Gossypium hirsutum, also known asupland cotton orMexican cotton, is the most widely planted species ofcotton in the world. Globally, about 90% of all cotton production is of cultivars derived from this species.[2] In theUnited States, the world's largest exporter of cotton, it constitutes approximately 95% of all cotton production.[3][4] It is native toMexico, theWest Indies, northern South America, Central America and possibly tropical Florida.[5][6]
It is believed thatgossypium hirsutum was created when wild Mexican cotton breeds mixed withgossypium herbaceum around 5-10 million years ago, producing a hybrid species with 26 pairs of chromosomes viapolyploidy.[7]
Archeological evidence from theTehuacan Valley inMexico shows the cultivation of this species as long ago as 3,500 BC, although there is as yet no evidence as to exactly where it may have been first domesticated.[8] This is the earliest evidence of cotton cultivation in the Americas found thus far.
Gossypium hirsutum includes a number of varieties or cross-bredcultivars with varying fiber lengths and tolerances to a number of growing conditions. The longer length varieties are called "long staple upland" and the shorter length varieties are referred to as "short staple upland". The long staple varieties are the most widely cultivated in commercial production.
^Röse USR, Lewis J, Tumlinson JH. Extrafloral nectar from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) as a food source for parasitic wasps. Functional Ecology 2006; 20:67-74.
