Our mystery seeds in the “pod” were from a lovely plant called Thurber’s cotton, Gossypium thurberi.
If allowed to reach its full potential, Thurber’s cotton is a large shrub or small tree, reaching up to 15 feet tall. It is native to Arizona, and is also called Arizona or desert cotton.
Although I called it a pod not to give away the answer, this structure is actually a “boll.” If you look closely, you can see the white fuzz of “cotton” around the seeds. There usually isn’t enough fiber to bother trying to harvest it, though.
Thurber’s cotton plants have palmate leaves, mostly with three lobes. The leaves fall off in the winter.
The best part about the plant are the delicate, cupped flowers with a hint of pink.
Have you ever seen cotton growing? How does this plant compare?
Interested in finding out more?
Firefly Forest has more photographs
Check out Bug of the Week tomorrow for more about this plant.
