REMARKS 01} THE NATURAL HISTORY OF COTTON. 179 
precisely as tliougli some one liad taken the young petals 
between bis finger and thumb; and given them) ja twist; just 
such a twist as a confectioner gives to the corners of a paper 
bag; when he has placed in it the articles he wishes to secure by 
this process. This is called a “twisted aestivation;” and such 
an arrangement may be seen in the flowers of the hollyhock; 
the cotton; the marsh-mallow, the abutilon, and other common 
plants of the order. 
The genus Gfossypium is distinguished among other genera 
of the order by three leafy bracts outside the flowers, which are 
united at their base (pi. x., figs. 1, 2, 3), and by the seeds 
being covered with hairs (fig. 6). The following are the 
species which have been recognized, and which are known to 
yield the cotton of commerce : — 
1. Gossypium herbaceum (fig. 3). — This is the common Cotton- 
plant of India, and is probably the original source of the hairs from 
which the first cotton fabrics were manufactured. It is called 
herbaceous, because its stems are not so woody as in the other 
species. It is a pretty plant, and rises from eighteen inches to 
two feet in height during the first year of its growth. It is 
usually cut down annually, but, if allowed to grow, the plant 
attains a height of five or six feet, and its branches become 
more woody. The younger parts of the stem, as well as the 
flower and leaf-stalks, are covered with hairs, and are also 
marked with black spots. The leaves are also hairy, but the 
hairs are very short, and different from those on the seed. The 
flowers of this plant are of a lively yellow colour, and each 
petal is marked with a purple spot near the base. These 
plants are described as very beautiful when in blossom. The 
large mass of columnar stamens is also conspicuous in the 
middle of the flower when it is open. The flowers are succeeded 
by a fruit, which gradually becomes dry, and then bursts into 
three or four valves, when the cotton-wool is seen issuing from 
the fruit in all directions. When the wool is cleared away 
from the seed, there will be found upon it a downy substance, 
which consists of a series of smaller hairs on the surface of 
the seed (fig. 16). 
This plant not only yields a good proportion of the shorter 
cottons of India (fig. 10), but it is found in China and the Malayan 
Peninsula, and also in Egypt. A species named Gossypium 
punctatum is found in Senegambia, which is probably a variety 
of the Gossypium herbaceum. It is cultivated on the borders 
of the Mediterranean, and has been introduced into some parts 
of America. 
There is a curious tendency on the part of some cotton- 
plants to produce a yellow or tawny cotton instead of white. 
This is the case with much of the cotton that is produced in 
