History and background of cotton

Long Distance Trade, Locational Dynamics and By-Product Development: Insights from the History of the American Cottonseed Industry

“…African cotton [24] grew wild in the savannah of southern Africa and was domesticated in the Middle East and around the eastern Mediterranean [26]. The legacy of this domestication is preserved linguistically as the word "cotton" comes from the Arabic word "qutn" [24] (p. 156) variously transliterated as "qutun" or "kutun" [28] (p. 4). African cotton is still cultivated in parts of Africa and Asia, but the main Old World species is Indian cotton [24] whose wild progenitors have been lost to science [26] but were, most likely, evolved independently from African cotton ancestors [25].…”

“…Each boll contains three to five "loculi "or compartments in which five to 11 seeds mature [28]. The boll opens half-way through its approximately 100-day growth cycle as the lint, white in most commercial varieties, dries [28,33,34]. Cottonseeds are more ovoid than spherical, slightly pointed in the manner of blunt apple seeds, and 3-10 mm in length.…”

“…It is approximately 4 cm across, spherical in upland cotton but more pointed in the pima species [28]. Each boll contains three to five "loculi "or compartments in which five to 11 seeds mature [28]. The boll opens half-way through its approximately 100-day growth cycle as the lint, white in most commercial varieties, dries [28,33,34].…”

“…It is approximately 4 cm across, spherical in upland cotton but more pointed in the pima species [28]. Each boll contains three to five "loculi "or compartments in which five to 11 seeds mature [28].…”

“…One hundred seeds may weigh between 5 and 10 milligrams [28]; conversely, one kilogram of delinted seeds contains approximately 8000 units [35].They are characterized by a dark brown or ash-coloured husk which, particularly in the upland cotton species, is entirely encased in short, compact white fuzz typically called "linters" [24,28,35,36]. Pima cottonseed husks appear black and smooth instead of dark brown and rough [28]. While the pima cottonseed is much less fuzzy than the upland one, both tetraploid New World varieties present more fuzz than the smoother cottonseeds of the diploids [28].…”