Gossypium

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For information on cotton production, industry, history, and applications, see cotton.

For the clothing company, see Gossypium (clothes).

Gossypium

Gossypium barbadense

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Gossypium L.

Species

See text.

Gossypium is a genus of 39-40 species of shrubs in the family Malvaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. The cotton plants, sources of commercial cotton fabric, are included in this genus.

Cotton shrubs can grow up to 3 m (10 ft) high. The leaves are broad and lobed, with three to five (or rarely seven) lobes. The seeds are contained in a capsule called a boll, each seed surrounded by downy fibres called lint. Commercial species of cotton plant are G. hirsutum (90% of world production), G. barbadense (8%), G. arboreum and G. herbaceum (together, 2%). While the lint (fiber) naturally occurs in colors of white, brown, and green, fears of contaminating the genetics of white cotton has led many cotton-growing locations to ban growing of coloured cotton varieties.

1 Species of Gossypium
2 Cotton pests and diseases
- 2.1 Pests
- 2.2 Diseases
3 See also
4 External links

Commercial cotton species

Commercial cotton fibres, used to manufacture cloth, are derived from the fruit of the cotton plant. The following species are grown commercially:

Gossypium arboreum L. – Tree cotton, native to India and Pakistan.
Gossypium barbadense L. – known as American Pima, Creole, Egyptian, or Sea island cotton, native to tropical South America.
Gossypium herbaceum L. – Levant cotton, native to southern Africa and Arabian Peninsula.
Gossypium hirsutum L. – Upland cotton, native to Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and southern Florida - most commonly grown species in the world.

Non-commercial species

Gossypium australe F.Muell – Endemic to north-western Australia
Gossypium darwinii - Darwin's cotton, found only on the Galapagos Islands
Gossypium sturtianum J.H. Willis – Sturt's Desert Rose, native to Australia.
Gossypium thurberi Tod. – Arizona wild cotton, native to Arizona and northern Mexico.
Gossypium tomentosum Nutt. ex Seem – Ma‘o or Hawaiian cotton, endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

Many varieties of cotton have been developed by selective breeding and hybridization of the above species. Experiments are ongoing to cross-breed various desirable traits of wild cotton species into the principal commercial species, such as resistance to insects, disease and drought-tolerance.

Cotton field in Sukhumi botanical garden, photo ca. 1912

Boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis
Cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii
Cotton stainer, Dysdercus Koenigii
Cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera and native budworm Helicoverpa punctigera are caterpillars that damage cotton crops.