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Description

Gossypium herbaceum or commonly known as Short-Staple American Cotton or Levant Cotton is a perennial shrub native to sub-Saharan Africa and Arabia. It grows up to 6 ft high with wide, hairy leaves. The flowers are small and yellow with a purple center. The plant is a minor source of cotton fibre used for making clothes, rubber-type fabrics, stuffing material for pillows and cushions, surgical dressings, twine and ropes, and carpets. The seeds are edible when roasted;it can be used as a coffee substitute. The seed also produces oil that can be used in salads or as cooking oil. The oil contains gossypol, a substance that has an effect of lowering sperm production and possibly causing infertility in males. The seeds can also be used medicinally particularly for dysentery, intermittent fever, fibroids, herpes, scabies, wounds, and orchitis. The root bark is used for painful menstruation and to encourage milk flow in nursing mothers. The leaves are taken internally for gastroenteritis, thrush, scalds, bruises, and sores. Plant stems can be made into paper.

Gossypium herbaceum is a SHRUB growing to 1.2 m by 1.2 m at a fast rate.
It is hardy to zone 10.
Suitable for: light and medium soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic soils and can grow in saline soils.
It can grow in semi-shade or no shade. It prefers moist soil. The plant is not wind tolerant.

Cultivation

Industrial Crop: Fiber Management: Coppice Management: Standard Regional Crop Staple Crop: Oil
Short-staple American cotton can be grown in the dry to moist tropics and subtropics, where it is found at elevations up to 2,200 metres. For commercial production it requires a climate that has a long, hot growing season with abundant moisture, followed by a drier period for harvesting the seed floss. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 26 - 36c, but can tolerate 18 - 38c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 750 - 1,250mm, but tolerates 200 - 1,500mm. Prefers a very sunny position in a light, fertile soil. Plants can tolerate a range of well-drained soils, including moderate levels of salt. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7.2, tolerating 5.3 - 8.5. Requires a position sheltered from strong winds. Flowering Time: Late Spring/Early Summer Mid Summer Late Summer/Early Fall. Bloom Color: Bright Yellow. Spacing: 9-12 in. . Carbon Farming - Cultivation: regional crop. Management: standard, coppice. Perennial cotton has longer fibres and is considered superior to annual cottons. Perennial cottons are suited to arid and humid conditions while annual cottons were bred for colder climates and for mechanical harvesting. Perennial cottons are cultivated in the tropics on a smaller scale and include Gossypium arboreum burmanicum, Gossypium arboreum indicum, Gossypium arboreum soudanense, Gossypium barbadense braziliense, Gossypium barbadense darwinii, Gossypium herbaceum acerifolium, Gossypium herbaceum africanum, Gossypium hirsutum marie-galante, Gossypium hirsutum punctatum, Gossypium hirsutum taitense. Currently perennial cottons are harvested by hand. Researching perennial cottons varieties and production methods would help develop them as good carbon farming plants and help to alleviate the terrible problems caused by annual cottons.

HabitatsNot known in the wild

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