2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Cotton plant (Latin Gossypium) - a genus of amazing plants, reckoned to the Malvaceae family (Latin Malvaceae). The fruits of plants provide people with plant fibers, from which a person has learned to make clothes that are comfortable and pleasant for the body. Plants of the genus require a special soil and a good atmosphere for life, moreover, each type of cotton has its own requirements for living conditions, which differ from those of other species. People try to please plants by growing Cotton in tropical and subtropical regions of different continents.
What's in your name
Giving the Latin name "Gossypium" to a genus of plants, the number of species of which exceeds fifty, botanists did not leave clear explanations of the roots of this word. Therefore, today in the literature you can find very contradictory information. Some refer to the ancient Greek language, others to Arabic, trying to find the roots of the word that gave the name to the most valuable representatives of the plant world.
In principle, a relatively narrow circle of people uses the Latin name, and for most people these plants are associated with the name "Cotton", which in the Russian version sounds like "Cotton" or simply "Cotton".
Description
The life span of one plant can be from one year to several years. Perenniality is supported by a taproot extending into the soil to a depth of thirty centimeters to three meters.
Thin, strong, branching stems provide reliable support for three to five lobed long-petiolate leaves.
The bushes are decorated with numerous single flowers. The fused corolla petals in the amount of three to five can be of very different colors. The rim is reliably protected by a double cup formed by serrated green sepals, which in turn has a three-bladed protective wrap. Under such protection, the fruit of the plant is formed.
The cotton fruit is a capsule, oval or round in shape, in which there are numerous seeds with a dense skin, additionally protected by soft hairs of two types. For the sake of these soft hairs, the cotton plant is cultivated by people.
The diversity of plants of the genus
In view of the diversity of plants of the genus Cotton, it is difficult to give a clear classification of botany, since some of the species are hybrids of other species. Such is the frivolous miracle of nature. However, there are four species that are cultivated by humans for the sake of extracting the soft filler of the seed bolls:
* Herbaceous cotton plant (Latin Gossypium herbaceum)
* Treelike cotton plant (Latin Gossypium arboreum)
* Barbados cotton plant (Latin Gossypium barbadense)
* Shaggy cotton (Latin Gossypium hirsutum).
All these species originally grew on different continents, and therefore differ in a number of characteristics from each other. The corollas of flowers have different colors, and most importantly, the length of the fibers differs significantly in different species, affecting the quality of the fabrics produced from them.
Even the time of growing cotton in different countries is a very individual matter. For example, in America, seed season starts from mid-March to late April. In Egypt, the crop is grown in the first half of February to April 15th, while Indian cotton (Swart) is grown from May to early August. Peruvian and Brazilian cotton is grown from late December to late April.
The main natural fiber of Humanity
Cotton is the leader among all natural fibers used by modern people. The soft hairs in which the seeds are buried are short and long. It is clear that higher quality threads are obtained from long hairs than from short ones, but both are industrial raw materials from which threads are made first, and then various fabrics.
Other uses
Cotton gives people not only natural fiber, but also cottonseed oil and nutritious protein feed for animals. Thus, cotton makes a huge contribution to the world economy and is of great importance for the development of agriculture and light industry in countries with a subtropical climate of such continents as Asia, Africa and South America.
Recommended:
Cotton Wool
Cotton wool sometimes it is also found under such a name as Asclepius. This plant most often belongs to perennial species, but there are also annuals. Among the characteristics of the fleece, it should be noted its amazing decorativeness, the presence of medicinal properties, as well as a very pleasant and bright aroma.
Cotton Grass
Fluffy (lat.Eriophorum) Is a charming aquatic plant from the sedge family. Description Fuzza is a herbaceous perennial bog, endowed with creeping horizontal rhizomes. And sometimes you can observe the rhizomes forming small tufts (that is, medium-sized bumps).
Air Cotton Grass
The charming cotton grass can be found mainly in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, and some of its varieties are generally characteristic of the Arctic plants. Cotton grass grows mainly in humid areas; you can often see it in swamps. This plant is perfect for decorating a wide variety of reservoirs - fluffy little white balls will give the area a unique flavor. Cotton grass will look no less impressive when decorating heather gardens
Meat Red Cotton Wool
Meat red cotton wool (lat.Asclepias incarnata) - a representative of the Vatochnik genus of the Kutrov family. The homeland of the plant is considered to be North America. There, the species grows naturally, but is more common in the central part and in the east.
Syrian Cotton Wool
Syrian cotton wool (lat.Asclepias syriaca) - a representative of the Vatochnik genus of the Kutrov family. It is a type species of the genus. Other names are milky grass (since the plant secretes milky sap), swallow grass. The Syrian vatnik got its name not in honor of the place of origin, as many think, but by mistake.
