4 WILD AND CULTIVATED COTTONS 



Anoma- We have thus the anomaly of a genus of plants never seriously 



dealt with by any botanist. In fact, subsequent to Linnaeus, 

 several authors have proposed the reduction of all to one species ; 

 others to three (one for the black-seeded, a second the white- 

 seeded, and the third the red-seeded cottons) ; and still others 

 have gone to the opposite extreme and needlessly multiplied the 

 species by making the cultivated states seen by them, or mentioned 

 by previous writers, each and all separate and distinct species. 



Revision Essential. Perhaps no stronger justification for a 

 revision of the cultivated and wild species of Gossypium could be 

 given than that made by Seemann (' Fl. Vit.' 1865, p. 21). ' The genus 

 Gossypium is in great want of a thorough revision. At present, 



Number of great doubt prevails as to the number of species composing it. 



species. Bentham and Hooker (' Gen. PL' i. p. 209) express the belief that 

 only three species exist, including even the Australian Sturtia, 

 whilst Todaro, of Palermo, enumerates thirty- four. I believe that 

 if all the characters are carefully noted, a monographer will have no 

 difficulty in defining a considerable number of well-marked species. 

 The native country of many species remains also to be traced.' In 

 the ' Journal of Botany ' (iv., 1866, p. 269) Seemann adds : ' We do 

 not hold Gossypium to be so difficult a genus as it is generally repre- 

 sented to be.' Speaking of Todaro, it may be added that his final 

 work (' Eelazione sulla Cult, dei Cotoni,' 1877-78) describes fifty-four 

 species with, under many of these, several varieties. As to the genus 

 not being a difficult one, the opinion held by M. Alph. de Candolle 

 (' Origin of Cult. Plants,' Fr. ed. 1883, p. 328) may be here shown : 



Con- ' Where there is such confusion it would be the best course .for 



botanists to seek with care the Gossypia which are wild in America, 

 to constitute the one or more species solely upon these, leaving to 

 the cultivated species their strange and often absurd and misleading 

 names. I state this opinion because with regard to no other genus 

 of cultivated plants have I felt so strongly that natural history should 

 be based upon natural facts, and not upon artificial products of 

 cultivation.' 



One exception only can be taken to that view namely, the 

 suggestion of restricting search for wild species to America. There 

 can be no manner of doubt that the Old World possesses to-day 

 very possibly quite as many and as valuable a series of wild cottons 

 as have as yet been recorded from the New. 



In almost every large herbarium there is likely to be discovered 



