SURFACE FIBERS 227 
Fig. 216.—Sea Island Cotton (Gossypium barbadense, Mallow Family, 
Malvacee). Flowering top, 3. (Schumann.)—Similar to upland cotton 
but with seed black. Native home, West Indies. 
comparatively small and the cultivation is mostly confined 
to islands or regions near the coast. 
The fibers found on the seeds of each consist of simple, 
flattened and twisted hairs developed as outgrowths from 
_ the ‘“‘hull” or seed coat. In the wild state these hairs catch 
the wind like thistle-down and so are of service to the plant 
as means of spreading abroad its seeds. Cotton raisers, 
however, select varieties which hold their seeds firmly in the 
pod till they can be picked out by hand. Through selection 
also the best varieties have lost the yellowish or buff color 
of their seed hairs, and have become nearly or quite white. 
At the same time there has been developed in cultivation the 
remarkable twist before mentioned. This twist is of the 
