Picture Details
Asian cotton, leaves and flowers, watercolour on paper.
Partner:
Kew GardensImage reference:
ILLUS31.01/39.0ROXOrigin:
IndiaArtist / Date:
Unknown, 1790-1812Donor / Date:
1859Size:
478 x 369 mmDescription:
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While working at the Botanic Gardens in Calcutta, William Roxburgh (1751-1815) employed a team of artists to record the plants he was studying. Kew holds copies of several drawings of cotton commissioned by Roxburgh, illustrating the different varieties and species of the genus Gossypium. If we are to assume that the artists painted all of the plants to life size, then this individual was the smallest of the cottons studied. Cottons of all shapes and sizes were recorded, from red flowering individuals to pale yellow such as this one. In each case, particular care was taken in studying the boll, in economic terms the most important part of the plant, which dried to reveal the fluffy cotton wool. Seen here is the boll, an individual seed with its staple, and a seed with the staple removed. Great efforts were taken in growing plants that produced long, white staples that could easily be removed from the seed.
