DICOTYLEDONS: ARCHICHLAMYDE^E 



295 



tiums, fuchsias, etc.; and some very useful plants also 

 belong to scattered families. These latter may be grouped 

 as follows: 



(1) FIBERS. The fiber plants are numerous, but there 

 are three very conspicuous ones among the Archichlamydese. 



Cotton. The cotton plant is by far the most important 

 fiber plant grown, being cultivated over a greater area and 

 used for a larger number 

 of purposes than any 

 other fiber plant (Fig. 

 285). The cultivated va- 

 rieties have originated 

 from several tropical spe- 

 cies, but in the United 

 States the Sea Island 

 cotton and the upland 

 cotton are grown almost 

 exclusively. The genus 

 (Gossypium) belongs to 

 the Mallow Family (Mal- 

 vaceae), to which the hol- 

 lyhock and the hibiscus 

 also belong, the most con- 

 spicuous peculiarity of 

 the flower being the ap- 

 parent coalescence of the 

 numerous stamens into a 



central column (Fig. 214). The capsule (boll) of the cot- 

 ton plant contains numerous seeds, which are covered with 

 long hairs (lint) that are the cotton fibers (Fig. 285, C). 

 At maturity the bolls burst, and the lint protrudes in a 

 fluffy, cottony mass (Fig. 285, B). The cotton-gin was in- 

 vented to separate the lint from the seeds, and the revolu- 

 tion it brought about in the cotton industry is well known. 



The Sea Island cotton, with its long and silky fibers, is 

 20 



FIG. 285. The cotton plant: A, flowering 

 branch ; B, fruit (boll) bursting ; C, seed 

 with fibers (lint). After WOSSIDLO. 



