SECTION III : G. MEXICANUM 233 



IV. EAKLY SMALL BOLL SERIES. Dewey (I.e.) writes : ' The 

 Early Small Boll varieties mature quickly and are therefore especially 

 adapted to the weevil-infested regions. They yield a medium 

 percentage of rather short lint, ranging from 22 to 28 mm. in length, 

 the bolls weighing from 3'5 to 5 grams. These varieties were 

 formerly grown most extensively in the Carolinas and along the 

 northern border of the cotton belt, but in recent years they have been 

 introduced extensively in Texas, where it has been found that early 

 varieties are more likely to escape damage from the boll-weevil.' 



Under this series are usually placed two plants that I think 

 should be kept distinct. These are : 



(9) ' Parker Cotton,' from New Orleans, La. This is a plant with Parker 

 small glabrescent thick smooth 3- to 5-lobed leaves ; flowers fairly 

 large, yellow tinged with purple, external and internal floral glands, 

 small, distinct and naked ; calyx loose, glabrous, toothed. Seeds 

 short, thick, rounded, fuzz almost confined to a crown of rusty wool ; 



floss scanty, short but somewhat silky. It is a form very near to 

 G. mexicanum of the G. purpurascens type, and might rather find a 

 place with the Eio Grande cottons of Dugger's classification. 



(10) ' King's Improved,' received from T. J. King, Eichmond, Va. King's 

 Leaves small, glabrescent, 3-lobed ; flowers yellow with purple claws ; 

 seeds large, coarse, densely coated with grey- white fuzz and short harsh 

 wool. This is a form closely allied to G. jamaicense, Mac/., but is 

 doubtless a hybrid. (See Plate No. 31 B and compare with 27 B.) 



(11) ' Okra or Split-leaf.' The record of this remarkable plant is otra 

 that it appeared in a field of ' King's Improved ' cotton, having been 

 discovered by Mr. A. W. Edson in 1903. Thousands of plants were 

 grown from the seed, but very few reverted to the broad leaf type. 



It seems highly improbable that this can be what is usually 

 called a ' natural sport.' (See Plate No. 35 and contrast with its 

 supposed origin Plate No. 31 B.) It is true that both plants manifest 

 in the nature of the punctations and hairs something in common. 

 And moreover the leaves in both are very slightly cordate at the base, 

 the ears of the cordature being thrown across the top of the petiole. 

 Still I feel convinced that while these agreements point to a close 

 relationship, the explanation that to my mind meets the case most 

 satisfactorily is that King's Improved is a hybrid of G. jamaicense 

 crossed very possibly with G. Schottii. The last-mentioned plant 

 belongs to a striking but hitherto little known group of Mexican and 

 South American wild cottons that all possess certain remarkable 



