Dunbar Spring Neighborhood_Gossypium thurberi

Photos from: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/Sky_Islands/plants/Gossypium_...

Family: Malvaceae

Common Names:

• English: desert cotton

• Spanish: algodoncillo

• O'odham:  Ban Tokigo

Scientific Name: Gossypium thurberi

Rain Garden Zone: G. thurberi does well in the bottom or terrace Rain Garden Zone. 

Reproduced with permission from "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond" by Brad Lancaster, HarvestingRainwater.com
 

Characteristics:

G. thurberi is a deciduous shrub that can grow up to 15 ft in height (1). Stems
are freely branching and produce three-lobed leaves, green in color (1). Flowers are pale yellow
in color, with red or pink spots near the base of the petals (1). Flowers produce small cotton
bolls (1).
 

Landscape Cultivation:

The shrub is considered low to moderate water use (3) and is commonly
found growing on rocky slopes or in canyons with full sun exposure, but the shrub also does
well in partial shade (2).

Ethnobotany:

Wildlife:
Shrub is a larval food plant for Grey Hairstreak butterflies and flowers attract Sulphur
butterflies (3).

Other:
Can be used as a source of fiber (2), but does not produce enough cotton for commercial value (1).

References:
1. U.S. Forest Service
2. SEINet
3. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

For more information on this species, see the Desert Landscape Site.