Gossypium australe

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Gossypium australe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Genus: Gossypium Species: G. australe
Binomial name
Gossypium australe F.Muell[1]

Gossypium australe is an endemic woody shrub, related to cotton, found in north western Australia. Preferring sandy soils near watercourses, it grows to about two or three feet tall. The leaves are grey and hairy, oval to elliptic, 3 inches long and soft to the touch. Flowers are around 1 - 2 inches long and present a pale pink mauve 'rose' with a deeper shade at the centre. Fruit are hairy, spherical and contain a bristly seed one sixth of an inch long.^[2]

It is sometimes confused with Sturt's Desert Rose Gossypium sturtianum.^[2]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Paczkowska, Grazyna (1996-09-19). Gossypium australe F.Muell.Native Cotton. Florabase, Department of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. “Gossypium australe. F.Muell. (Native Cotton) Fragm. 1:46 (1858)”
2. ^ ^{a b} Chippendale, Thelma M; Chippendale, George [1968] (1980). Wildflowers of Central Australia, Axiom books, Hong Kong, West Perth: The Jacaranda Press, 56-57. ISBN 0 7016 0279 1. “Gossypium, from the arabic for softness; australe, Australian” ,