Gossypium hirsutum f. mexicanum (Todaro) Roberty; G. mexicanum Todaro; G. religiosum Linnaeus.

Herbs, annual, 0.6-1.5 m tall. Branchlets sparsely villous. Stipules ovate-falcate, 5-8 mm, caducous; petiole 3-14 cm, pilose; leaf blade broadly ovate, 3(-5)-lobed, 5-12 cm in diam., lobes broadly triangular to ovate-orbicular, base broad, central lobe usually 1/2 as long as leaf blade, abaxially sparsely villous, adaxially nearly glabrous, scabrously hairy on veins, base cordate or cordate-truncate, apex acuminate. Flowers solitary, axillary. Pedicel usually slightly shorter than petiole. Epicalyx lobes 3, free, to 4 × 2.5 cm (including teeth), hirsute and ciliate with long hairs, base cordate, with 1 gland, 7-9-toothed near apex, teeth 3 or 4 × as long as wide. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-lobed, lobes triangular, ciliate. Corolla white or yellowish, fading to reddish or purple, funnelform; petals 4-5.5 × 3.5-4.5 cm. Staminal column 1-2 cm; filaments lax, upper ones longer. Capsule 3- or 4-celled, ovoid, 3.5-5 cm, apex beaked. Seeds free, ovoid, with white wool and gray-white moderately persistent short fuzz. Fl. summer-autumn.

Gossypium hirsutum has replaced G. arboreum and G. herbaceum in the cotton-producing areas of China.

Widely cultivated in China [probably of American origin (?Mexico), now cultivated throughout warmer parts of the world].