Species of flowering plant in the mallow family Malvaceae
Gossypium hirsutum, also known as upland cotton or Mexican cotton, is the most widely planted species of cotton in the world. Globally, about 90% of all cotton production is of cultivars derived from this species.[2] In the United States, the world's largest exporter of cotton, it constitutes approximately 95% of all cotton production.[3][4] It is native to Mexico, the West Indies, northern South America, Central America and possibly tropical Florida.[5][6]
Archeological evidence from the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico shows the cultivation of this species as long ago as 3,500 BC, although there is as yet no evidence as to exactly where it may have been first domesticated.[7] This is the earliest evidence of cotton cultivation in the Americas found thus far.
Gossypium hirsutum includes a number of varieties or cross-bred cultivars with varying fiber lengths and tolerances to a number of growing conditions. The longer length varieties are called "long staple upland" and the shorter length varieties are referred to as "short staple upland". The long staple varieties are the most widely cultivated in commercial production.
Gossypium schottii G. Watt, Wild cult. cotton 206. 1907.
Gossypium taitense Parl., Sp. Cotoni 39, t. 6, fig. A. 1866.
Gossypium tridens O. F. Cook & J. Hubb., J. Washington Acad. Sci. 16:547. 1926.
References
^Wegier, A.; Alavez, V.; Vega, M.; Azurdia, C. (2019). "Gossypium hirsutum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T71774532A71774543. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T71774532A71774543.en. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
^World Cotton Production, Yara North America
^"USDA ERS - Cotton Sector at a Glance". www.ers.usda.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
^Davenport, Coral (2023-02-18). "How Climate Change Is Making Tampons (and Lots of Other Stuff) More Expensive". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
^Wendel; et al. (November 1992). "Genetic Diversity in Gossypium hirsutum and the Origin of Upland". American Journal of Botany. 79 (11). JSTOR: 1291–1310. doi:10.2307/2445058. JSTOR 2445058.
^Smith, C. E.; Stephens, S. G. (1971). "Critical identification of Mexican archaeological cotton remains". Economic Botany. 25 (2): 160. doi:10.1007/BF02860076. S2CID 24273337.
^Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 (p. 77)
^Stevenson, p.92
^Röse USR, Lewis J, Tumlinson JH. Extrafloral nectar from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) as a food source for parasitic wasps. Functional Ecology 2006; 20:67-74.
External links
Cotton Botany at Cotton Inc.
Gossypium hirsutum in West African plants – A Photo Guide.