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| Gossypium herbaceum |
| Cotton shrubs grow up to 3 m high; leaves are broad and lobed, with three to five (or rarely seven) lobes; seeds contained in a capsule called a boll, each seed surrounded by downy fibres called lint. |
| Common Names: Cotton |
| Geographic Distribution: Native to the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa and Arabia where it still grows in the wild as a perennial shrub. It was probably first cultivated in Ethiopia or southern Arabia and from there, cultivation spread to Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey, North Africa, Spain, Ukraine, Turkestan and finally, to China. |
| Uses/Applications: The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today. |
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