Note: Omutete is of minor importance in the four north central regions. The plant is quite rare in this area and only occasionally found in homesteads or in vegetable gardens. Omutete is more common and important to the east in the more humid regions, Kavango and Caprivi. DESCRIPTIONA 50-100 cm tall herb. The young leaves are oval, while older leaves are clearly three-lobed. The flowers are bells-haped and bright yellow with a red-brown center.When the plant grows older the deep red or purple colours of calyx and stem dominate and the entire plant ends up looking purple. A pale green form of Omutete was found during the year 2000 seed fair in Ohangwena. USELeaves of omutete are stripped of the plants and cooked as described for ombidi. The red petals are sometimes peeled off the bolls and dried. When pounded and covered with boiling water, these petals produce a red tea.POTENTIAL FOR CULTIVATIONOmutete is quite easy to grow. The plants establish well when grown from the large seeds. The plants are quite drought resistant and continue the growth long into the dry season.Omutete may have a large potential for export as a herbal tea. The right omutete varieties grown in a dry climate will produce high quality flowers for tea. SIMILAR SPECIESOmutete is related to cotton. As the area of cotton production is expected to increase considerably in future, one should look for possible interaction of pests between these crops.
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