Corchorus is a genus of about 40-100 species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the family Malvaceae

Malvaceae

Malvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species. Judd & al. Well known members of this family include okra, jute and cacao...

, native to tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world.

Different common names are used in different contexts, with jute

Jute

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....

applying to the fiber

Fiber

Fiber is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together....

 produced from the plant, and mallow-leaves for the leaves used as a vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

. The English common name 'mallow' (also applied to other members of Malvaceae) comes from (mulukhiyah

Mulukhiyah

Mulukhiyah, mloukhiya, molokhia, mulukhiyya, or malukhiyah is the leaves of jute and related Corchorus species used as a vegetable in Middle Eastern, East African, North African, and South Asian cuisine...

), with many similar transliterations in other languages like (molokhia).
The plants are tall, usually annual herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

s, reaching a height of 2-4 m, unbranched or with only a few side branches.