Gossypium

Cotton was cultivated by the inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilization by the 5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC. Gossypium is a genus of 39-40 species of shrubs in the mallow family, Malvaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions. The cotton plants, sources of commercial cotton fabric, are included in this genus. Prominent types of commercially grown cotton are Egyptian, Sea Island, Asiatic, American Pima (Gossypium barbadense) and Upland (Gossypium hirsutum.) The US grow Upland (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia,) and American Pima (Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas) cotton. Florida is not known as a state that grows cotton commercially although cotton can certainly grow here. The reason being that the soil is not adequate for producing good cotton crop.

This photo taken today shows several cotton plants right here in Miami that illustrate the full cycle of a typical cotton plant. From seed planting, to the appearance of "pinhead squares," the tiny wrinkling young bracteal leaves that prelude the beautiful yellow flowers (seen in insert) to the bolls (fruits) that pop open revealing locks of white cotton embedded with black cotton seeds, the process takes about 6 months. Walking back through the calendar, these plants must have been planted around October-November of 2008. These plants are grown as a curiosity so the cotton will not be picked, I am sure. Historically, picking cotton is extremely hard labor that punishes the laborers to the extreme so cotton-picking machines were invented, thank goodness!