122 



NATURAL I1IST0RY OF PLANTS. 



warm countries : 7/. elaius &xv., yra/idifolius Sa\\sb., clypeat us Jj., syria- 



cus L. (figs. 154-161), mutabilis Cav., vi/ifoliusL., UliacemJj., arboreus 



L. ; the same with Si da Abutilon and some other llerbcs a balai& 



{broom herbs) of the same genus, Urena lobata and sinuata, Thes- 



pesia populnea, Nap a a laevis, Malva Alcea, Althaea cannabina, nar- 



bonensis, rosea, Helicteres, certain Dombeyas of the Mascarene 



Islands, Abroma fastuosa, several Quararibeas? &c. But the most 



valuable of the textile substances which we owe to the Malvaceae 



is Cotton, formed by certain cells of the superficial seminal coat 



of several species of Gossypium. In G. herbaceum* (figs. 163- 



106) in particular, at anthesis, this coat, smooth until this 



period, presents here and there small ribs, 4 which are due to 



the development of some of the cellules on their only free surface. 



By degrees these little conical projections, whose number continues 



to augment, are elongated into cylindrical cones, then into long tubes, 



with much attenuated walls, the cavities always being single, and 



only containing a kind of gas surrounded by a membrane, soon 



becoming dried and pressed down. 5 The long hairs are then detached 



more or less easily from the surface of the seeds, 6 the under portions 



1 The branches of S, carpinifolia L. and 



rhombifolia L. are used in Brazil to make 

 brooms. Those of S. micrantha serve to make 

 rods of fusees, lighted at church doors on certain 

 saints' days. 



2 Especially at Cayenne. Q. guianensis Aubl. 

 (Guian., t. 278 } — Myrodia longiflora Sw., Fl. 

 Ind. Occ, 1229 ;— DC, Prodr., i. 477, n. 3). 



3 L., Spec, 975.— DC, Prodr., i. 456, n. 1.— 

 Cav., Diss., t. 164, fig. 2.— A. Rich., Mem., ed. 

 4, ii. 518. — Guib., Drog. Sirnpl., ed. 6, hi. 612. 

 — Rosenth., op. cit., 712. — G. Mrsutum L., 

 Spec., 975. — DC, loc cit.. n. 6. — G. prostra- 

 tion Sciitjji. & Thonn., Besler., 311. — G. pane- 

 tatum Guillem. & Peek., Fl. Sen. Tent., i. 62. 

 — A. Rich., Fl. Abyss. Tent., i. 63 (nee Schum. 

 & Thonn.). 



4 There is often a particular part where these 

 rihs first appear : it was observed by us in thei 

 young seed toward the chalaza ; afterwards the 

 eruption passed along the edges to the other end 

 of the seed. Then, where the eruption had 

 commenced, the prominent parts became more 

 numerous, and were at last developed upon the 

 two lateral surfaces of the seed. But this order 

 in the production of the papilla) is far from being 

 constant and absolute. 



s It is for this reason that the reactions of the 

 Cotton are in general those of the cells. 



6 This character serves, in the first place, to 

 distinguish the principal species whose produce 

 is useful. Cotton is easily detached from the 

 seeds, and leaves them naked in G. barba- 

 dense L. (Spec, 975; — DC, loc. cit., n. 10; — 

 Mast., loc. cit., 210, n. 1 ; — H. Bn., in Adan- 

 sonia, x. 175; — G. viti folium Lamk., Diet., ii. 

 135; — G. peruvianum DC, loc cit., n. 11; — 

 G. punctatum Schum. & Thonn., op. cit., 310, 

 nee Guillem. & Peer.), a species often culti- 

 vated in Asia and Africa, and which yields dif- 

 ferent sorts of American Cottons; while in 

 G. anomalum (Waive. & Petr., Sert. Benguel., 

 22 ; — Mast., loc cit., 211, n. 2 ; — G. senarense 

 Fenzl, in Kotsch. It. Mtliiop. Exs., n. 90), the 

 only species, probably, which exists in Africa in 

 the wild state, the filaments are only detached 

 with difficulty, and leave upon the seed after- 

 wards a short down, often thick and like felt. 

 It is the same in G. herbaceum (p. 121, note 

 6) and in the G. arboreum (L., Spec, 975; — 

 DC, loc. cit., n. 4; — Cav., Diss., vi. t. 195; — 

 ? G. rubrum Foesk., JEg.-Arab., n. 88, ex DC, 

 loc cit.), which differ from the preceding, inas- 

 much as they have, instead of linear bracts, rare 

 in this genus, large bracts more or less dentate, 

 like those of G. barbadense. The number 

 of useful species admitted in the genus Gossy- 

 pium moreover varies much, according to dif- 



