Desert cotton | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malvales |
Family: | Malvaceae |
Genus: | Gossypium |
Species: | G. thurberi
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Binomial name | |
Gossypium thurberi | |
Synonyms | |
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Gossypium thurberi, also known as Arizona wild cotton, Thurber's cotton, or desert cotton, is a wild species of cotton. [1]
Their flowers are not showy, but the palm-shaped green leaves turn maroon in autumn. [2]
It is native to the Sonoran Desert area of northern Mexico and parts of the US state of Arizona. [3] It is often used in southern Arizona landscapes as a deciduous shrub to small tree up to 10 feet (3.0 m) tall. It is a larval food plant for the royal moth ( Citheronia splendens sinaloensis). [4]