DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



177 



eral wild species, and it represents not a species but a group of hybrids and forms 

 more or less closely related. The cottons called "nankeen" are only color variations 

 of the above, and may be found in nearly every species that is cultivated. Author- 

 ities agree that in all probability the yellow lint is the wild form of all cottons, and 

 this character can not be used to designate species. 



G. arboreum Linn, is a shrubby perennial, but in cultivation sometimes annual or 

 biennial; fiber, two forms; one white, long, overlying a dark-green or black down; 

 not readily separable from the seed. This species of cotton appears to be indigenous 

 to India and the regions bordering on the Indian Ocean. According to Watt it is 

 found near temples and in gardens, where it is said to be in flower most of the. year. 

 The plant is a perennial, lasting for five or six years or longer, and is not used as a 

 field crop. The fiber is fine, silky, and an inch or more in length, but little of it is 

 produced. The cultural name given it is Nuriua or Deo cotton, and its use is said to 



Fig. 60.— Upland cotton. 



be restricted to making thread for the turbans of the priestly class. Its value is 

 said to be greatly overrated. This species is sometimes known as G. religiosum. 



G. neglectum Tod.: This species, indigenous to India, is very similar to G. arbo- 

 reum, and by some is thought to be a hybrid between that species and some other, or 

 it may be only a cultural form of the first. It is a large bush, although sometimes 

 only 18 inches in height, and is extensively grown in India as a field crop. It is the 

 Dacca cotton of Royle and Roxburgh and the China cotton of the same authors. 

 This species is cultivated in Bengal, the Punjab, and the Northwest Provinces, and 

 it constitutes to a large extent the Bengal cotton of commerce. Toelaro has sepa- 

 rated from the species two varieties — roxburghianum and chinense — corresponding to 

 the Dacca and China cottons above mentioned. It is A T ery probable that both the 

 varieties and the species are not well founded, but are cultural forms. There is 

 another Indian species, G. wightianum Tod., that is claimed to be the form chiefly 

 12247— No. 9 -12 



