General Information

COMMON NAMES: Sea Island Cotton, Tree Cotton; German Baumwolle TRADITIONAL NAMES: Vavaī (RR MG), Vavai Papa‘ā (MK), Vavai (AK); Other Polynesian - Vavae (TON), Vavae Samoa (SAM), Vavai (TAH) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE tropical Americas COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine, Material (Fibre) KEY FEATURES: Shrub to 2.5m. Leaves 15x15cm dissected more than 50% into 3,5, or 7 long-oval lobes. Flowers yellow with basal maroon spot. Bracts to 6cm with 5-15 long teeth, separated by rounded sinuses. Seed capsule 3-4cm long, narrow-ovoid, pitted black. Copious white lint. SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++	+	-	+	-		-		-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Gossypium barbadense var. barbadense Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Gossypium peruvianum; Gossipyium religiosum [sensu authors]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); DILLENIIDAE; Malvales; MALVACEAE

GENERAL NOTE: Was introduced in the early 1800s to several islands in the Pacific, such as Hawaii where a cotton mill opened in 1838 at Kailua. It was cultivated to produce cotton known as Sea Island Cotton. Mr. Armitage was brought by the LMS to Rarotonga in 1833 to teach people to make calico from cotton, and the growing of cotton continued to the late 1800s.

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.875 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.564 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.518 Hortus 3rd
p.2/430 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.274 R* Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.72 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.412a Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

• Google
• Google Images