Cotton

About

"The popular name of several species of Gossypium, natural order Malvaceæ, from which the well-known textile substance cotton is obtained. The genus is indigenous to both hemispheres, and the plants are now cultivated all over the world within the limits of 36° north and south of the equator. All the species are perennial and become somewhat shrubby, but in cultivation they are usually treated as annuals. They have alternate stalked and lobed leaves, large yellow flowers, becoming reddish on the second day, and a three- or five-celled capsule, which bursts open when ripe through the middle of the cells, liberating the numerous black seeds covered with the beautiful filamentous cotton. The species yielding the cotton of commerce are: G. Barbadense, known as sea-island cotton, with a fine, soft, silky staple nearly two inches long; G. herbaceum, yielding the upland or short-staple cotton of the United States; and G. arboreum. Many varieties of these species are known. The kidney, Peruvian, Brazil, and Bahia cottons of commerce are all produced by varieties of G. Barbadense. Nankin cotton is a naturally colored variety. Cotton-seed, after the removal of the fiber, yields upon pressure a large amount of yellow oil, with a bland, nut-like taste, closely resembling olive-oil, as a substitute or adulterant for which it is largely used. The residue after the extraction of the oil, called cotton-cake, is valuable as food for cattle and as a manure. The bark of the root is used in medicine, acting upon the uterine system in the same manner as ergot. Also called cotton-shrub."

--From the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia's entries for cotton-plant

Here you'll find history, varieties, diseases, related words &c.