Tree cotton
Gossypium arboreum
Synonyms: Gossypium intermedium, Gossypium figarei, Gossypium comesii, Gossypium albiflorum, Gossypium arboreum var. obtusifolium, Hibiscus cernuus, Gossypium glabratum, Gossypium arboreum var. cernuum, Gossypium puniceum, Gossypium wightianum, Gossypium asiaticum, Gossypium cernuum, Gossypium indicum, Gossypium bani, Gossypium roxburghii, Gossypium wightianum var. pubescens, Gossypium rubicundum, Hibiscus nangking, Gossypium wightianum var. wightianum, Gossypium neglectum, Gossypium herbaceum var. wightianum, Gossypium nanking var. bani, Gossypium arboreum var. sanguineum, Gossypium arboreum f. neglectum, Gossypium arboreum subsp. sanguineum, Gossypium obtusifolium var. wightiana, Gossypium anomalum, Gossypium arboreum var. wightianum, Hibiscus albiflorus, Gossypium gracile, Gossypium sanguineum, Gossypium perennans, Gossypium wattianum, Gossypium arboreum f. albiflorum, Xylon indicum, Gossypium arboreum f. vaupellii, Gossypium wightianum var. pallidum, Gossypium nanking, Gossypium royleanum, Gossypium roseum var. albiflorum, Gossypium rubrum, Gossypium arboreum var. indicum, Gossypium roseum, Gossypium vaupelii, Gossypium obtusifolium, Gossypium arboreum var. neglectum, Gossypium arboreum f. rubrum, Gossypium macranthum, Gossypium soudanense, Gossypium arboreum subsp. cernuum, Gossypium nanking f. rubicundum
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Botanical Description
Gossypium arboreum, often called tree cotton or Asiatic cotton, is a perennial shrub or small tree in the Malvaceae family, of Old World origin and long cultivated across the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and parts of Africa. In favourable conditions it grows 2 to 5 metres tall with a stout, woody trunk and a many-branched habit; in cultivation it is usually managed as a short-lived perennial or annual. The leaves are alternate, palmately three- to seven-lobed, 5 to 15 cm wide, with pointed lobes and a slightly hairy texture. Conspicuous solitary flowers are borne in the leaf axils, with five large, broadly obovate petals 3 to 6 cm long, pale yellow to creamy with a deep purple-red basal blotch on each petal, fading pink as they age. Each flower is subtended by three deeply fringed epicalyx bracts. The fruit is a three- to four-valved capsule (boll) opening at maturity to reveal seeds enveloped in dense white to brownish lint, the source of the short-staple desi cotton fibre.
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