Gossypium tomentosum explained
Gossypium tomentosum, commonly known as maʻo, huluhulu or Hawaiian cotton, is a species of cotton plant that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It inhabits low shrublands at elevations from sea level to 120m (390feet).[1] Maʻo is a shrub that reaches a height of 1.5- and a diameter of 5-.[2] The seed hairs (lint) are short and reddish brown, unsuitable for spinning or twisting into thread.
Genetic studies indicate that Hawaiian cotton is related to American species of Gossypium, with its closest relative Gossypium hirsutum.[3] Its ancestor may have come to the islands from the Americas as a seed on the wind or in the droppings of a bird, or as part of floating debris.[4]
Native Hawaiians use maʻo flowers to make a yellow dye.[5]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: mao, huluhulu . Hawaii Ethnobotany Online Database . Bernice P. Bishop Museum . 2011-09-09.
- Web site: Gossypium tomentosum . Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database . . 2009-03-13.
- 10.2307/2446640 . American Journal of Botany . 0002-9122 . 1 September 1998. 85 . 9 . The Tortoise and the Hare: Choosing between Noncoding Plastome and Nuclear Adh Sequences for Phylogeny Reconstruction in a Recently Diverged Plant Group . Small . R. L. . Ryburn . J. A. . Cronn . R. C. . Seelanan . T. . Wendel . J. F. . 1301–1315 . 2446640 . American Journal of Botany, Vol. 85, No. 9 . 21685016 . free .
- DeJoode . Daniel R. . Wendel, Jonathan F.. November 1992 . Genetic Diversity and Origin of the Hawaiian Islands Cotton, Gossypium tomentosum . . 79 . 11 . 1311–1319 . 10.2307/2445059 . Gossypium tomentosum is proposed, based on biogeographic evidence and molecular data, to have originated by transoceanic dispersal from a Mesoamerican progenitor. . American Journal of Botany, Vol. 79, No. 11 . 2445059.
- Web site: Making dye from native and canoe plants. Mānoa Heritage Centre. 27 May 2020. Zoe . Welch. 28 October 2022.
