GOSSYPIUM 415 



the fruiting branch is long; and, at the second node, a leaf arises 

 with two basal stipules which almost completely encircle the node. 

 The floral bud appears to arise approximately opposite the point 

 of divergence of this leaf rather than from its axil. Gore (18) 

 describes this situation, 



"Examination of a fruiting branch shows that the flowers are not 

 in the axil of a leaf, but appear to stand opposite the adjacent leaf. 

 The internodes of this branch are slightly zigzag and the leaves appear 

 as if alternately arranged. . . . Such a sympodium is developed 

 more or less as follows: from the axil of a leaf on a given axis, there 

 arises a new axis which by its growth pushes the terminal portion of 

 the axis from which it arose to one side so that this once terminal 

 portion may come to appear as if lateral in origin." 



The axillary bud may develop in the usual fashion, producing 

 a vegetative branch, or it may produce a short vegetative branch 

 which will in turn produce fruiting branches. The development 

 of a short vegetative branch producing fruiting branches gives it 

 the appearance of a fruiting branch bearing several flowers or 

 bolls; but, actually, only one is borne on each branch. The leaves 

 on the fruiting branches do not have the same arrangement as those 

 on the main axis owing to the sympodial method of branching and 

 the twisting of the joints of the fruiting branches, which orients 

 the flower buds in an upright position and aligns the alternate 

 leaves in two rows. 



The Root. — The plant develops a tap root which penetrates 

 the soil for 2. feet or more under favorable conditions. With 

 irrigation, Balls (6) records a penetration of about 7 feet in one 

 of the Egyptian varieties, and King (13) reports a tap root of 

 the Pima variety grown in Arizona that reached a depth of nearly 

 II feet, noting that "a considerable number of secondary roots 

 extended to great depths and apparently shared the function of 

 the tap root." He also observed a relation between extent of the 

 root system and "water stress"; stating that 



"Plants which had produced the greatest quantity of vegetative 

 growth appeared to suffer most frequently from 'water stress' remaining 

 longer in a wilted condition between irrigations and showing an 

 earlier recurrence of wilting after irrigation. The fact that there 

 was no appreciable difference in size or distribution between roots of 

 large plants and small plants seems to indicate that a limiting root 

 system may have an important bearing on the water-stress behavior 

 of the largest plants." 



