Description

Kapok (Gossypium arboreum), commonly called tree cotton, is a species of cotton native to India, pakistan and other tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World. There is evidence of its cultivation as long ago as the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley for the production of cotton textiles. The shrub was included in Linnaeu's Species plantarum published in 1753. The holotype was also supplied by him, which is now in the Linnean Herbarium in the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

Characteristics:

Tree cotton is a shrub attaining heights of one to two metres. Its branches are covered with pubescence and are purple in colour. Stipules are present at the leaf base and they are linear to lanceolate in shape and sometimes falcate (i.e. sickle-shaped). The leaves are attached to the stem by a 1.5 to 10 cm petiole. The blades are ovate to orbicular in shape and have five to seven lobes, making them superficially resemble a maple leaf. The lobes are linear to lanceolate, and often a tooth is present in the sinus. Glands are present along the midrib or occasionally on the adjacent nerves. The leaves are glabrescent, meaning the pubescence is lost with age, but when it is present on young leaves, it is both stellate (i.e. star-shaped) and simple. The flowers are set on short pedicels (i.e. flower stalks). An epicalyx is present, which is a series of subtending bracts that resemble sepals. Its large, ovate segments are dentate (i.e. toothed along the margins), though sometimes only very slightly so. They are cordate (i.e. heart-shaped) at the base and acute at the apex. The true calyx is small, measuring only about 5 millimetres (0.20 in) long. Its shape is cupular, and five subtle dentations are present.  

Medicinal Uses:

Cotton is a plant. People use the bark of the root to make medicine. Don't confuse cotton with cottonseed extract. Women use cotton for menstrual disorders and symptoms of menopause. They also use it to bring on labor and childbirth, as well as to expel the afterbirth. Some women use cotton to improve breast milk production. Despite safety concerns, men sometimes use cotton for birth control. Cotton is also included in some birth control products that are applied vaginally.