Plant: shrub; ca. 2 m tall, the young stems pentangular, glabrate
Leaves: deeply 3-5-lobed, 5-15 cm long, the lobes narrowly lanceolate, with abaxial foliar nectary on main veins
INFLORESCENCE: flowers in sympodial inflorescences; bracts of the involucel ligulate, entire or apically trifid, 8-12 mm long
Flowers: calyx 3 mm long; petals 1.5-2.5 cm long, pale yellow, often with vestigial red spot at base
Fruit: capsular, 3-celled, subglobose to oblong, smooth, 1-1.5 cm long. SEEDS subglabrous
Misc: On rocky hillsides and arroyo banks; 800-2450 m (2500-8000 ft); Aug-Oct
REFERENCES: Fryxell, Paul A. 1994. Malvaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27(2), 222-236.
Common Name: Thurber's cotton
Duration: Perennial
Nativity: Native
Lifeform: Tree
General: Erect, openly branched shrub 1-3 m tall, the young stems five sided, glabrate; bark smooth, gray-brown.
Leaves: Deeply 3-5 lobed, 5-15 cm long, lobes narrowly lanceolate; on slender petioles 2-8 cm long, gland-dotted, glabrous; lobes lanceolate, entire, long-acuminate, bright green above, slightly glaucous beneath.
Flowers: Solitary or subcorymbose, peduncles 1-3.5 cm long, 3 bracts; ovate-lanceolate, entire or 3-toothed, 6-15 mm long, minutely puberulent along margins; calyx 3 mm long, petals 1.5-2.5 cm long, pale yellow, often with vestigial red spot at base.
Fruits: Three celled capsule, broadly ovoid to subglobose, 1-2 cm long, abruptly apiculate, closely gland-dotted, inner margins of sutures bearing tufts of long white hairs; seeds 4-5 mm long, dark brown to nearly black, turbinate, finely pubescent with short gol
Ecology: Found on rocky hillsides and along arroyo banks from 2,500-8,000 ft (762-2438 m); flowers August-November.
Notes: Grows prolifically on some hillsides with the summer rains; the enormous lobed leaves are a giveaway if you also note the bark; in the winter it can be noted by the sometimes persistent capsules that dehisce and remain at the end of the branches.
Ethnobotany: Used as a source of fiber.
Etymology: Gossypium comes from the Latin name Pliny used for the cotton tree, while thurberi is named for Dr. George Thurber (1821-1890), an American horticulturalist and botanist who participated in the Mexican Boundary Survey.
Synonyms: Thurberia thespesioides
Editor: SBuckley, 2010
