72 THALAMl FLORAE, 



at the base, cordate, inciso-dentate. Stigmata 3-5. 

 Capsule 3-5 -celled, many-seeded : seeds bearing a to- 

 mentose wool. 



Name, supposed to be derived from gossypion or xylon, a 

 plant described by Pliny as a native of Upper Egypt, tbe pods 

 of whicb furnisbed tbe wool, of which the garments of tbe 

 Egyptian priests were made. 



1. Gossypiiim Brasiliense. Chain- Cotton. 



Subglabroiis, leaves 4- rarely 3- or 5-lobed tri- 

 glandulose beneath, leaflets of the involucellum 3 

 laciniated with a black depressed glandide at the base 

 of each, capsule 3-celled, seeds adhering. 



HAB. Cultivated and wild. 



FL. May — November. 



A shrub, usually 4-3 feet in height : branches spreading, 

 glabrous, rough with small black papillary inequalities. Leaves 

 4-5-, rarely 3-lobed, with the middle lobe the largest, acumi- 

 nate, cordate at the base, 5-nerved with the 3 middle nerves 

 uniglandulose near the base, punctate with black dots (especially 

 along the under surface of the nerves), glabrous above, pubes- 

 cent with minutely twisted hairs beneath : petiole nigro-papil- 

 lose, glabrous. Stipules lineari-lanceolate, deciduous. Peduncle 

 axillary, solitary, 1-flowered, coloured on one side, nigro-papil- 

 lose, glabrous, articulated and furnished with a pair of irregular 

 leaflike bracteas. Involucellum 3-partite nearly to the base ; 

 divisions ovate, lacerato-dentate, green, subglabrous, nigro-pa- 

 pillose, veined, membranaceous, with a large black depressed 

 gland at their base. Flowers yellow, changing, as they fade, 

 to a pale rose red. Calyx obscurely 4-5-toothed, nigro-papil- 

 lose. Petals obovate, with the sides unequal, veined, glandu- 

 loso-punctulated, minutely puberulous externally. Anthers 

 yellow ; pollen hispidulous (under the microscope). Ovary 

 conical, glabrous, nigro-papillose : style length of the column 

 of tbe stamens, 3-sided, white with black dots : stigma 3-fid, 

 expanded. Capsule ovate, 3-celled, 3-valved : seeds several, 

 closely adhering together, ovate, black ; cotton white. 



This species is that which is most esteemed ; the cotton being 

 white and silky, and having along staple, and separating readily 

 from the seeds, which adhere firmly together. The seeds in 

 G. HiRsi'TUM also adhere together in this manner, but the dif- 

 ference is too great in many otiier important points, to allow of 

 the plant before us being referred to that species. It is proba- 

 ble that this variety was brouglit from Bi'azil, as it was known 

 in the time of Sloane, as well as in that of Edwards, by the name 

 . of Brazilian cotton. " The" Brazilian cotto'; tree," says the 



