Gossypium MALVACEAE Hibiscus 



4. Gossypium Linn. Cotton ^M (Mien Shu) 



Stout herbs or shrubs with palmately lobed lvs.: fls. large, axillary, often yellow 

 and purple, with large lobed and fringed involucel: fr. a loculicidal 3-5-valved 

 capsule with densely long-hairy seeds. 30-40 species, tropical; 2 cultivated in China. 

 (Latin: gossypion, from Arabic: gothn, a soft substance.) 



Key to the Species 



Bracteoles of the involucel more or less united below. 

 Bracteoles with 3 or 4 sharp teeth at the apex: lvs. not bearing a gland 



on the midnerve beneath 1 . G. nanking 



Bracteoles cordate below and only slightly united, with 7-9 sharp teeth 



at the apex: lvs. bearing a large gland on the midnerve beneath.. 2. G. herbaceum 

 Bracteoles of the involucel quite free below 3. G. hirsutum 



1. Gossypium nanking Meyen Chinese Cotton (Watt 114). Annual, to 1 m.; fls. 

 yellow, VII. fr. IX. Eastern Asia; locally in An., Che., Ku. Cultivated, fiber. 



2. Gossypium herbaceum Linn. Levant Cotton l^B (Ts'ao Mien; Herbaceous 

 Cotton) (B.M. 663). Annual, to 1 m.; fls. yellow, VIII-IX; fr. X. Southwestern 

 Asia; locally in An., Ku. Cultivated, fiber. Fig. 237. 



3. Gossypium hirsutum Linn. American Cotton §|^| (Mei Mien) (B.M. 663). An- 

 nual, to 2 m.; fls. white, light yellow, pink or purple, VII-VIII; fr. X. Tropical 

 America; locally in An., Ku. Cultivated, fiber. 



5. Abelmoschus Medic. fkMWk (Ch'iu K'uei Shu) 



Coarse erect herbs with large lvs. and large axillary fls: bracteoles 5 or more; 

 lobes entire; calyx spathelike, deciduous, splitting down one side and circumscissile: 

 capsule 5-valved. 15 species, tropical; 2 cultivated in China. (Latin: abelmoschus, 

 from Arabian: abu-al-misk, father of musk, referring to the odor of the seeds of 

 some species.) 



Key to the Species 



Pod 15-20 cm. long, glabrous or nearly so: bractlets of the involucre linear. 1. A. esculenius 

 Pod 4-6 cm. long, hispid: bractlets ovate to oblong 2. A. manihot 



1. Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench Okra %XM (Ch'iu K'uei. Autumn Sunflower) 

 (B.M. 664). Annual, to 2 m.; fls. yellow, VIII; fr. IX-X; pods 15-20 cm. long. 

 Old World tropics; locally in Ku. Cultivated, vegetable. 



2. Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic. (Hibiscus manihot Linn.) Iffjil (Huang Shu 

 K'uei; Yellow Althaea) (B.M. 664). Annual, to 3 m.; fls. yellow or whitish, VIII; 

 pods 4-6 cm. long. Eastern Asia; locally in Ku. Planted, ornamental. Fig. 238. 



6. Hibiscus Linn. Rose Mallow %WB* (Mu Chin Shu) 



Herbs, shrubs or trees: bracteoles not fringed; calyx 5-lobed, persistent: capsule 

 5-valved. 190 species, tropical; 5 in China. (Greek: hibiskos, the marsh mallow.) 



Key to the Species 

 a. Plants herbaceous. 



Stem spiny: upper lvs. digitately cleft into narrow serrate 



divisions: capsule bristly 1. H. cannabinus 



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