Gossypium thurberi
Desert Cotton
Family: Malvaceae
Deciduous, upright shrub growing to about 10’ tall x 4’ wide. Fall color with red and yellow foliage. White flowers with red dots at the base of the petals in warm weather. Capsules follow the flowers which are persistent. Though a cotton relative, this plant produces no fiber.
Grow in full sun to shade, with moderate water, hardy to at least 15° F.
Flowers important for many species of native bees, and used by many pollinators. Larval food plant for painted lady (Vanessa cardui) and gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus), and many moth species. Also a larval host for the royal moth (Citheronia splendens sinaloensis).
Despite references to this plant being used as a fiber, the pod produce almost no fiber and is probably a mistake by the original authors (Castetter & Bell, 1942). The seeds have the slightest pubescence.
Gossypium comes from the Latin name Pliny used for the cotton plant, while thurberi is named for Dr. George Thurber (1821-1890), an American horticulturalist and botanist who participated in the Mexican Boundary Survey.
Found on rocky hillsides and along arroyo banks from 2,500-8,000 ft. in Arizona and Sonora.