COTTON. 
CHAPTER L 
« 
BOTAliriOAL ANALYSIS AND DESCEIPTION— THE FLOWER 
AND THE FEUIT. 
An examination of the flower of the cotton plant shows 
that it belongs to the 15th class, 12th order of theLinnaean 
system, Monadelphia polyandria. 
According to the natural system, it takes rank with the 
Malvacece, which embrace the mallow, hollyhock, okra, &c. 
The generic name is Oossypium. Fifteen or twenty 
species have been described by Linnaeus and De Candolle, 
the principal of which are Gossypium herhaceum, G. arho- 
reum, G. hirsutum, G. religiosum, and G. Barhadense. 
The writer is disposed to adopt the opinion that these 
are mere varieties of one original species, although the 
weight of authority is against him. 
Be this as it may, cotton appears in the fields of the 
Southern States in three principal forms, viz., herbaceous, 
shrubby, and arborescent, or tree-like. 
The cotton of our hill lands is an herb one to three feet 
high ; that of the bottoms is shrub-like, growing often to 
the height of ten feet; that of the sea islands is called 
