COTTON
Gossypium hirsutum L. (Malvaceae).
Given its scientific name by Carolus Linnaeus in his second edition of Species Plantarum in 1763; he saw plants cultivated in the Chelsea Physic Garden by Philip Miller that were said to come from the Carolinas and Mexico.
Only truly native to coastal areas of the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico, but spread by domestication throughout the Mesoamerican area.
Life form:
perennial shrub, grown as an annual crop.
Parts used: hairs surrounding the seeds are combed and used as fibre.
Ploidy level:
tetraploid of complex origin.
| 
