38 HINDI COTTON IN EGYPT. 



fuzz at the ends, and the lint is similar to that of the Egyptian cotton, 

 ■whereas the seeds from Arabia are covered with a brown fuzz. 



"\Yliile at Gizeh there was also opportunity, through the kindness 

 of Mr. W. Lawrence Balls, botanist of the Khedivial Society, to see 

 living plants of a kidney cotton raised from seed brought from the 

 Niam-Niam country in the up])er valley of the White Nile, a type 

 considered by Mr. Balls as representing one of the parents of the 

 p]gTptian cotton. It has to be admitted that these plants show a 

 notable agreement with the Egyptian cotton in many respects and 

 are quite unlike any of the varieties of kidney-seeded cotton that have 

 been seen in Mexico and Central America or received from those 

 countries. 



The Niam-Niam cotton has three external nectaries present with 

 great regularity, reniform-cordate in shape, and usually distinctly 

 emarginate on the upper side. The nectaries are alwaj'^s of a red 

 color, at least on' these well-exposed plants. Inner nectaries are 

 also present with much regularity, are broadly V slu\ped, and often 

 colored red. The surfaces of the nectaries are rather coarsely 

 granular-papillate and Avithout hairs. Cases of supposed intensi- 

 fication of nectaries in Egyptian hybrids might be considered as 

 reversions to such an ancestor as this. 



The leaves vary from entire to 5 lobed, the latter usually on the 

 rank growth of new shoots. Occasionally there are G or 7 lobes, but 

 the additional lobes are usually small. The leaves are of the Eg}^p- 

 tian form and color, somewhat more hairy than usual in Eg}'ptian 

 cotton, but the hairs are short, as in some variations of the Egyptian 

 type. The pulvinus and veins are green or tinged with dull reddish, 

 as in Egyptian cotton. The pulvinus is very hairy and not enlarged, 

 but the outer pairs of veins show an occasional tendency to unite at 

 the base. There are 1 to 3 leaf nectaries, those of the midribs being 

 sagittate. 



The stipules of the main stalk and vegetative branches are long 

 and slender as in rank-growing Egyptian cotton, while those of the 

 fruiting branches are unequal, one narrow and the other broad, the 

 latter often with two teeth. 



The bracts are usually connate at their base for one-eighth to one- 

 fourth inch, as often occurs in Egyptian cotton. The calyx has very 

 distinct, broadly rounded lobes (PI. V, 6'), more prominent than is 

 usual in the Egjq^tian cotton but nearly equaled under some condi- 

 tions, as in the Egyptian cotton grown near Los Angeles in the season 

 of 1909. 



The plants at Gizeh were quite wood}?^ and about 10 feet high, and 

 had no tendency to produce elongated fruiting branches. Only one 

 flower was borne on each fruiting branch. The pedicels of the flowers 



210 



