RUBELZUL COTTON: A NEW SPECIES ( >F GOSSYPIUM 

 FROM GUATEMALA 



By FREDERICK L. LEWTON 



(With Two Plates) 



The Kekchi Indians at Rubelznl, a part of the Finca Trece Aguas, 

 a few miles from Senahu in Aha Verapaz, Guatemala, cultivate about 

 their door yards the distinct type of cotton described below. An exami- 

 nation of the region and questioning of the natives failed to throw any 

 light upon the origin of this cotton. It is undoubtedly a distinct, local 

 species and has probably been cultivated by these Indians for several 

 hundred years. 



Its most prominent feature is the remarkable development of the 

 calyx which reaches proportions not known in any other species. 

 Seeds from the plants at Rubelznl when grown in richer soil at a con- 

 siderable higher altitude in Guatemala or when planted in Florida or 

 Texas show this very large calyx in an even more exaggerated degree. 

 Xext to the calyx the most distinguishing feature is the three deep, 

 cuneate nectaries at the end of the pedicle, instead of the usual circular 

 or reniform shape of the nectaries found in that position. The shape 

 of these nectaries was retained by the plants cultivated in Texas and 

 was recognizable in hybrid plants having the Rubelznl cotton as one 

 parent. The plants grown in Texas from the Guatemalan seed were 



affected by the new conditions as to be otherwise almost unrecog- 

 nizable. All the vegetative characters were much exaggerated, the 

 plants becoming large, spreading bushes with leaves ten inches across. 



The fiber being longer and of finer quality than the species com- 

 monly planted by the Kekchi Indians this cotton was tax < red for their 

 door-yard cultures. 



The size and form of the calyx indicate at once the specific distinct- 

 ness of the plant which may be technically described as follows: 



GOSSYPIUM IRENAEUM Lewton, new species 

 Plant a large, lax, spreading bush, 6-IO feet high, broadly pyramidal 

 in outline; main stem erect but weak, becoming woody. Vegetative 

 branches very lung, beginning close to ground, horizontal, the end- 

 curving upwards; axillary limbs few and small; fruiting branches 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 60, No. 4 



