SECTION II: VAR. SANGUINE A 93 



In that particular sample the bracteoles are small, like those of typical 

 G. arboreum, and the seeds have a green fuzz. I have also seen good 

 specimens from Madras, where the plant appears to be occasionally grown 

 under the name Semparuthi. I collected in 1890 a red-flowered field cotton Sem- 

 at Lahore which comes fairly near to var. sanguined. In a field at parutbi 

 Palitana, Kathiawar, I also found a plant (n. 1761) that in my notes I cotton - 

 described as a purple-flowered example of var. neglecta. Two specimens of 

 red-flowered cottons have been sent to me from the Poona and Kirkee 

 Experimental Farms (ex Herb. B.E.P.), viz. n. 21,881 red-flowered Navsari 

 and n. 21,882 named Dev-kapas. Both these are aberrant forms of 

 G. arboreum with the leaves on the pattern of var. neglecta, only less hairy 

 and the bracteoles more deeply toothed than is customary with that plant. 

 In the British Museum Herbarium there is a specimen from Bangkok, Siam, 

 a hybrid approaching sanguinea x Nanking ; also Zimmermann, n. 131 ; and 

 Java, Horsfield (ex Shuttleworth's herb.). In the Cambridge Herbarium 

 (Lindley's set) there is a specimen collected in Coimbatore by Wight. 



Nomenclature. A red-flowered field cotton is incidentally men- 

 tioned by many of the older botanical writers and also the early 

 travellers. Some of these have already been mentioned under 

 G. arboreum. Lamarck, for example (quoting from Sonnerat, ' Hist. 

 Voy.' x. p. 460), speaks of a red-flowered cotton growing plentifully 

 in the plains of Macassar. This has already been mentioned, and is Macassar 

 only repeated here as the plant in question was in all probability var. ootton ' 

 sanguinea. 



Dr. Buchanan-Hamilton collected cotton specimens in Bengal, Bengal 

 during the opening decade of the nineteenth century. His specimens cottons - 

 are in an admirable condition, and thus afford by far the most 

 satisfactory conception of the cotton plants of the eastern side of 

 India a century ago. Mention has just been made of his sample 

 n. 1549, but it may be useful to afford a few additional particulars 

 gleaned from the original records preserved in the Edinburgh 

 Herbarium. The specimen has been photographically reproduced in 

 Plate No. 9, one leaf (B) natural size, the remainder (A) half size. 

 Hamilton's original label (in his own handwriting, C) shows the name 

 he gave it (G. nigrum, rubicundum), and below has been added a 

 further label (D) recording the particulars given in Hamilton's MS. 

 Catalogue. It is distinctly a red-flowered example of a field plant. Red- 

 It was collected at Gongachora on June 30, 1809, and was then in 

 flower. In his catalogue he records his determination of it as cotton. 

 G. indicum, Willd. Sp. PL in., 803 ; G. javanicum, Herb. Amb. iv., 

 34 ; and Pluk. Aim., 172, Phyt. t. 188, /. 3. But his remark, ' Colitur 

 ubique in India vulgatissima,' is most interesting. He gives it the 

 Bengali name of banga, and says it is known to the Burmans as 



