72 
THALAMl FLORAE. 
at the base, cordate, inciso-dentate. Stigmata 3-5. 
Capsule 3-5-celled, many-seeded : seeds bearing a to- 
mentose wool. 
Name, supposed to be derived from gossvpion or xylon, a 
plant described by Pliny as a native of Upper Egypt, tbe pods 
of which furnished tbe wool, of which the garments of tbe 
Egyptian priests were made. 
1. Gossypium Brasiliense. Chain- Cotton. 
Subglabrous, leaves 4- rarely 3- or 5-lobed tri- 
glandulose beneath, leaflets of the involucellum 3 
laciniated with a black depressed glandule at the base 
of each, capsule 3-celled, seeds adhering. 
HAB. Cultivated and wild. 
FL. May — November. 
A shrub, usually 4-5 feet in height : branches spreading, 
glabrous, rough with small black papillary inequalities. Leaves 
4-5-, rarely 3-lobed, with the middle lobe the largest, acumi- 
nate, cordate at the base, 5-nerved with the 3 middle nerves 
uniglandulose near the base, punctate with black dots (especially 
along the under surface of the nerves), glabrous above, pubes- 
cent with minutely twisted hairs beneath : petiole nigro-papil- 
lose, glabrous. Stipules lineari-lanceolate, deciduous. Peduncle 
axillary, solitary, 1 -dowered, coloured on one side, nigro-papil- 
lose, glabrous, articulated and furnished with a pair of irregular 
leadike bracteas. Involucellum 3-partite nearly to the base ; 
divisions ovate, lacerato-dentate, green, subglabrous, nigro-pa- 
pillose, veined, membranaceous, with a large black depressed 
gland at their base. Flowers yellow, changing, as they fade, 
to a pale rose red. Calyx obscurely 4-5-toothed, nigro-papil- 
lose. Petals obovate, with the sides unequal, veined, glandu- 
loso-punctulated, minutely puberulous externally. Anthers 
yellow ; pollen hispidulous (under the microscope). Ovary 
conical, glabrous, nigro-papillosc : style length of the column 
of the stamens, 3-sided, white with black dots : stigma 3-dd, 
expanded. Capsule ovate, 3-celled, 3-valved : seeds several, 
closely adhering together, ovate, black ; cotton white. 
This species is that which is most esteemed ; the cotton being 
white and silky, and having a long staple, and separating readily 
from the seeds, which adhere firmly together. The seeds in 
G. hirsutum also adhere together in this manner, but the dif- 
ference is too great in many other important points, to allow of 
the plant before us being referred to that species. It is proba- 
ble that this variety was brought from Brazil, as it was known 
in the time of Sloane, as well as in that of Edwards, by the name 
of Brazilian cotton. “ The Brazilian cotton tree,” says the 
