CHAPTER III 



THE SPECIES, VARIETIES AND RACES OF THE COTTON PLANT 



Economic THE genus GOSSYPIUM belongs to the Natural Order MALVACE.E, a 

 proper- f am iiy o f plants closely allied to the STERCULIACE^J and TILIACE.E 

 And these three families are not only allied by structural peculiarities 

 but by economic properties. They are, for example, specially rich in 

 fibrous materials, for besides Cotton the MALVACE.E afford the Silk 

 Cottons, Bombax and Eriodendron, also several well-known bast 

 fibres, such as that of Hibiscus ccmnabinus the Deccan hemp and 

 Althaa cannabina the Hemp-leaved Mallow of Southern Europe ; 

 while the TILIACE.E yield Jute (Corchorm), and the allied family, the 

 LINE^, embrace the Linseed or Flax (Linum usitatissimum). The 

 stems and leaves abound in an emollient mucilage, and the seeds 

 are often rich in oil, e.g. linseed and cotton. Thus it will be seen 

 some of the most important of all fibres, as also of the most useful 

 of oils, are derived from the assemblage of plants here briefly 

 indicated. 



The MALVACE.E are essentially tropical plants, and the species 

 accordingly diminish rapidly in number and prevalence as they recede 

 from the Equator. They are also more numerous in the northern 

 tropics of the New than of the Old World. They may be defined 

 as follows : 



Definition Herbs, shrubs or trees with soft wood. Leaves alternate, simple, entire 

 of the or lobed, palminerved, often gland-dotted, as also frequently possessed of 

 family. nectar-yielding glands on certain veins below, and with hairs generally 

 stellate ; stipules often conspicuous. Flowers usually large, axillary, solitary 

 or clustered, and then forming racemes, corymbs or panicles ; nectar-yielding 

 glands often present on the peduncles or on the base of the calyx-tube. 

 Calyx embraced by a whorl of bracts called the epicalyx in Hibiscus 

 and the bracteoles in Gossypium, or absent as in Sida, Abutilon, &c. ; the 

 calyx itself is most frequently, relative to the size of the corolla, an 

 exceptionally small cup which affords so little protection to the fruit as 

 to have necessitated the formation of the protecting bracts. Corolla of 

 5 large petals alternating with the teeth of the calyx-tube, contorted in 

 eestivation and the claws often giving attachment to the base of the 



