WILD AND CULTIVATED COTTONS 



Speci- 

 mens. 



The type. 



Citation of Specimens. In Kew Herbarium : from BARBADOS : Forester, 

 example presented by the Corporation of Liverpool ; ST. KITTS, collected by 

 Grisebach, n. 19 (fragmentary and possibly Q. brasiliense) ; BRITISH GUIANA, 

 by Jenman, n. 5,139, June 1889 ; MARTINIQUE : by L. Hahn in 1870 (an 

 almost glabrous sample) ; ST. THOMAS : by Eggers, n. 242 ; TRINIDAD : by 

 Fendler, n. 226 ; BAHAMAS : by A. H. Curtiss, n. 135 (an exceptionally 

 hairy sample) ; ISLAND OF MARGARITA (Venezuela) : by Millar and Johnston, 

 n. 207 ; SOUTHERN NIGERIA : by J. H. Holland, n. 250 ; ZAMBESI : Tette, by 

 Sir J. Kirk ; EGYPT (Upper) : by \V. Schimper, (in herb. J. Gay) ; MEXICO : 

 Guayrnas, by Dr. E. Palmer, n. 110 (1887) ; PARAGUAY : by E. Hassler, n. 

 484 ' Culta et quasi- spontanea ex numero ' ; GUATEMALA : by Bernoulli and 

 Cario, n. 3,100, December 1866. 



In the British Museum Herbarium there are many specimens of great 

 interest that supplement those in Kew very materially. Of these special 

 mention has to be made of the Sloane collections. These will, however, be 

 discussed in detail in a further paragraph (p. 269-270). EGYPT : Damietta, 

 Schweinfurth, 1888 ; Wilkinson 1834 ; AFRICA : Angola, Welw., nn. 5,229, 

 5,230, and 5,232 ; AMERICA : S. Florida, Kugel, n. 93A ; MALAYA AND POLY- 

 NESIA : Java, Horsfield ; Pitcairn Island, 1834 ; WEST INDIES : Porto Rico, 

 Sintenis, n. 6,856 (a very doubtful specimen). 



In the Calcutta Herbarium there is a specimen that appears to be this 

 plant named by Kurz as G. acuminatum and recorded as procured from 

 H.B.C. 



In M. de Candolle's Herbarium, Geneva, there is a sample collected by 

 M. Morrenhout in Tahiti in 1835 that seems to be Tahiti Sea Island cotton. 



Nomenclature. Much diversity of opinion prevails as to the 

 determination or rather limitation of this species. It has been con- 

 fused with two or three other cottons, and is often met with so com- 

 pletely hybridised, that its separation from G. vitifolium, G. brasil- 

 iense, and even G. peruvianum becomes difficult. Its great merit 

 as a staple, and the part which it has apparently taken in the pro- 

 duction of all the finer grade cottons of modern commerce, render it 

 imperative that the attempt should be made to fix its identity with as 

 much precision as may be possible. 



There can, however, be little doubt as to the botanical type of the 

 species. It was founded by Linnaeus on the description and plate 

 given by Plukenet (who lived from 1642-1706) ' an annual cotton with 

 3-lobed leaves met with in Barbados,' and which, therefore, is inse- 

 parable on that definition from G. vitifolium above. In the second 

 edition of the ' Species Plantarum,' Linnaeus added the information 

 that the leaves below had three glands, but it seems doubtful whether 

 this supplementary feature is a constant characteristic or may not 

 rather be an acquired one through hybridisation or adaptation to 

 insect visitants. Plukenet's specimen is in the Sloane Herbarium of 

 the British Museum (vol. 100, f. 105 and Kay 1064-1), and is, there- 



