FNPS Plant Database
Gossypium hirsutum
Nomenclature
Common Name:
Synonym(s):
Genus species:
Family:
Malvaceae
Plant Specifics
Form:
Size:
Life Span:
Long-lived perennial
Flower Color:
Fruit Color:
Phenology:
Noted For:
Landscaping
Recommended Uses:
Considerations:
A Florida law was passed in the early 1900s banning the growing of wild cottons, which can attract boll weevils. The intent was to protect commercial cotton farming. Methods of agricultural protection are more advanced today, and the native Florida cotton does not grow in the parts of the state where cottons are grown commercially. However, the law is still on the books.
Availability:
Propagation:
Light:
Moisture Tolerance:
Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□■■■■■■■■■■■■□□□□□□
Not wet but not extremely dry -to- Somewhat long very dry periods
Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:
Unknown
Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:
Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray
Soil or Other Substrate:
Sand, Loam
Soil pH:
Suitable to Grow In:
10A,10B,11
USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.
Don't know your zone? Click here to search by zip code.
Ecology
Wildlife:
Larval host plant for gray hairstreak ( Strymon melinus ) butterflies.
Flowers attract bees, flies, thrips, grass hoppers, and beetles, and ants (Kale 2014).
Native Habitats:
Comments:
Ethnobotany:
General Comments:
Wild cotton is a rare plant; it needs protection against missuses and protection against removal from natural populations.
Citations:
Kale, Pravin J. (2013). Potential pollinators of Gossypium hirsutum L.. ( https://www.ijsr.net/archive/v5i2/NOV161450.pdf ). Accessed 2026. International Journal of Science and Research, 5, 1323-1328.
Osorio, Rufino. (2001). A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.
