Gossypium hirsutum L.
പരുത്തി
| Family: | MALVACEAE |
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| Sub-Family: | Not available | ||||
| English Name: | Cotton | ||||
| Synonym: | Gossypium herbaceum L.var.hirsutum(L.)Mast. | ||||
| Common Name: | Karpassi | ||||
| Flowering & Fruiting Period: | December-March | ||||
| Distribution: | Native of Central America | ||||
| Habitat: | Cultivated | ||||
| Uses: | Seeds cooked and edible. Oil obtained from the seed is used for salads, in cooking and to make margarine etc. The boiled leaves are applied to skin rashes on children. A good quality fibre is obtained from the seed floss. Cotton fibres have a wide range of used including making clothes; rubber-tyre fabrics; stuffing material for pillows, cushions etc.; surgical dressings; making twine and ropes; carpets etc. Oil is obtained from the seed. Low-grades of the oil are used in the manufacture of soap, lubricants, sulphonated oils and protective coatings. The seed hulls and the dry stalks are used as fuel | ||||
| Key Characteristics: | Shrub or undershrub; stems much branched, greenish red, densely hairy or glabrous. Leaves more or less orbicular; lobes ovate to broadly 3-angled. Flower axillary, solitary. Epicalyx lobes broadly ovate, cordate at base, laciniate; teeth 7-12, linear to lanceolate.Calyx cupular, with 5 rounded acuminate segments; nectaries distinct on nerves.Corolla yellow to yellowish white, rarely with a purple centre.Petals obovate.Staminal column 1-2 cm long.Capsules ovoid, rarely globose, 3-5 loculed.Seeds ovoid, with a copious coat of floss and fuzz | ||||