The Gossypium is the largest genus in the tribe Gossypieae, with 50 Gossypium species and new species being discovered. There are 17 species of Gossypium (see list in scientific classification on this page) indigenous to Australia. The genus name derived from the Arabic word goz, which refers to a soft substance.

There are 17 Gossypium species indigenous to Australia. These species comprise three genetically and morphologically distinct groups recognized taxonomically as three sections within Gossypium subgenus Sturtia and cytogenetically as three genomes.

Source: Biogeography of Australian Gossypium Species, Australian National Botanic Gardens1

The C-genome (section Sturtia) contains the well known Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum) and its western relative, G. robinsonii. Sturt’s Desert Rose can be found in seasonally dry creek beds in the temperate arid zones of all the mainland states. The G. robinsonii occurs only in the Pilbura region of Western Australia. Both species are large well-branched shrubs with mauve flowers with a deep maroon petal spot at the base of each petal.

Sturt's Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum var. sturtianum)
Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum var. sturtianum), Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs

There are three G-genome species, Gossypium australe, G. bickii and G. nelsonii. They are seen as low / spindly shrubs in the dry-monsoon and warm arid regions of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. Gossypium australe is the most widespread of the species, often found along road verges. Gossypium bickii and G. nelsonii are mostly found in small populations in the Northern Territory and western Queensland. These G-genome species are sometimes known as Desert Roses due to the flower similarity to those of Sturt’s Desert Rose.

Amegilla Bee and Low Desert Rose (Gossypium bickii) or Desert Rose, south of Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Amegilla Bee and Low Desert Rose (Gossypium bickii), south of Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer

The 12 K-genome species Gossypium rotundifolium, occur in small populations in the monsoonal regions of the Kimberley in northern Western Australia. The K-genome species possess a unique seed dispersal mechanism that is found no where else in the genus. The flowers are upright, but as the fruit develops, the stem curves toward the ground dropping the seed directly onto the ground when the fruit opens. The seeds have a fleshy appendage that attracts ants, which disperse the seed.1

Low Desert Rose (Gossypium bickii) with insects, south of Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Ants and Australiphthiria sp on Low Desert Rose (Gossypium bickii), south of Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer

The flowers of the Gossypium are popular with many insects, such as ants, Amegilla bees (also known as Blue-banded Bees), Australiphthiria sp, spiders that often prey on visiting insects, and European Honey Bee.

European Honey Bee on a Sturt's Desert Rose, Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs, NT
European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) / Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum),
Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs, NT
Lynx Spider (Oxyopes sp) on Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum var. sturtianum), Olive Pink Botanic Garden, NT
Lynx Spider (Oxyopes sp) on Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum var. sturtianum),
Olive Pink Botanic Garden, NT

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Phylum: Charophyta
  • Class: Equisetopsida
  • Subclass: Magnoliidae
  • Superorder: Rosanae
  • Order: Malvales
  • Family: Malvaceae
  • Genus: Gossypium
    • Subgenus: Sturtia
      • Section: Sturtia
      • Section: Hibiscoidea
      • Section: Grandicalyx
        • Gossypium costulatum
        • Gossypium cunninghamii
        • Gossypium enthyle
        • Gossypium exiguum
        • Gossypium londonderriense
        • Gossypium marchantii
        • Gossypium nobile
        • Gossypium pilosum
        • Gossypium populifolium
        • Gossypium pulchellum
        • Gossypium rotundifolium
        • Gossypium species nova

Footnote & References

  1. Cotton Molecular Genetics, Australian National Botanic Gardens, https://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/program/sc/cotton_mole.htm
  2. Gossypium L., Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/taxon/apni/51288462

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