GOSS YPIUM — COTTC) X. 



107 



G0S8YPIUM.— Cotton. 



Gossypium herbaceum Liniu'.— Co//y« Plant. 



I)i:<cflliliiin. — C'lily.v tubiiliir-cumimnuliito, dhscnrcly G-toothod, iiinch 

 Hliortor thim tho tpii-aly.x. of 'A Lirj^'o, cordiito, dufply iucisinl iiiul tootlieil 

 loavGH. Corolhi : petals large, couvoluto in the bud, sprcadiu;,' when ox- 

 iwnded, iiTegiilai'ly ubovate-truucatc, wodged-shaped at the base, yellow, 

 with a 2)uri)lo spot changing to reddish-brown. Stamens niuuei'ous, uni- 

 ted and forming a long tubt;, connected at the base with tlie claws of the 

 ])otals. (3vary conical, IJ- to n-celled, muny-ovulod. Style simple, longer 

 than the stamens • stigma clavate, slightly 3- to o-lobed. Fruit a 3- to 5- 





Fio. lit. — riocsypinm liprbaconm. Tlnwcr nml fruit. 



celled capsule, opening nt maturity through the middle of the cells and 

 exposing numerous seeds covered with the white filaments so well Iniown 

 as cotton. 



A stout herbaceous plant, with an erect, branching, leafy stem, al>ont 5 

 feet high, natur.illy perennial but cultivatetl as an annual. Leaves large, 

 3 to inches long, 3- to 5-lobed, with a single gland below, strongly veined, 

 the lobes acuminate and mucronate ; petioles about as long as the blade, 

 stitr and angular. Lower leaves often 2- or S-lobed. Flowers large, 3 

 inches broad, alternate, opposite the leaves ; pedicels similar to the 

 petioles but shorter. 



ITahilat. — The cotton plant has been cultivated for so gi-eat a length of 

 time that its natural habitat is uncertain. It flourishes within the limits 

 of 30° north and south of the equator. Though scarcely naturalized, the 

 extent to which it is cultivated in the Southern States entitles it to a place 

 among N<n-th American plants. 



Part Ut^eih — Tlic bark of the root: Gossypii radicis cortex — cotton- 

 root bark. Gossypium — cotton— T/f/Vcr/ Stat>'>^ Pharmavopana. 



Constituent. — Of cotton it is only necessary to state that the article 



