GOSSYPIUM 



4^7 



(lo) have interpreted them as "ingrown margins of tiie calyx 

 lobes" or "stipular elements." Centrad to and at the base of the 

 sepals is a ring of nectaries made up of multicellular glands which 

 are surrounded by stiff hairs. 



The tubular corolla consists of five obcordate petals with lobes 

 that alternate with those of the calyx, and each glandular petal 

 overlaps the next one in the series in a convolute manner. The 

 stamens are numerous, there frequently being as many as 90 or 

 100. These are diverged from a tubular sheath of tissue, or 

 staminal column, which com- 

 pletely surrounds the pistil except 

 for the projecting stigmas and a 

 short portion of the style. (Fig. 

 III.) The filaments appear to 

 arise in five fascicles or groups, 

 but close examination shows 

 that there are actually ten fairly 

 well defined groups of stamens 

 arranged in more or less vertical 

 rows. The anthers are bilocular, 

 and dehisce along a single line 

 running over the crest of the 

 anther, liberating large, spinose 

 pollen grains. 



The pistil consists of from 

 three to five undiverged carpels, 



and the three- to five-loculed or corolla tube; C, ovary ;D bract of invo- 

 ... , ,, II- lucre. (Photograph by Doak after Balls.) 



locked boll is a dehiscent cap- 

 sule that splits along the dorsal sutures. In a given variety, the 

 number of carpels may vary within the limits noted above even 

 on an individual plant. In Upland cotton, the four- to five-locked 

 bolls are more common than the three-locked ones, and two-locked 

 types occur in Egyptian cotton. Abnormal cases have been 

 reported in which six or more carpels may occur. The boll is 

 thick and leathery at maturity and is usually subglobose or oval 

 in shape. (Fig. xix.) In each locule, eight to ten ovules arise 

 in two parallel rows, and ultimately the seeds produce the com- 

 mercial fiber. 



The flower is subtended by an involucre composed of three, 

 or occasionally four, unequal, leaf-like bracts. These are ridged, 



Fig. 111. Median longisectioii through 

 flower. Ay staminal column; B, base of 



