When I was driving down I-5 yesterday there were alerts on the overhead signs saying that due to construction I-5 was reduced to one lane and delays were to be expected. The suggested detour was east on CA 46 to Hwy 99 and then south again. Not a road I have ever driven, so off I went. Not many drivers took the advice and I had the road pretty much to myself. The drive was through farm land, mostly cotton and almonds, but other crops I can't identify. Cotton used to be very common along I-5, but less so in recent years. This drive gave me a chance to take some close up photos.
It is the only crop I know of that has the dark green background of palmate leaves and large pale yellow flowers.
It is grown in rows, but they are very close together.
The flowers resemble a hibiscus blossom. Or maybe a rose.
The flowers are clasped by the toothed sepals which eventually will hold the cotton fibers. The dried sepals are what tear the hands of those picking the cotton, which is why gloves are helpful!
The flowers die and the cotton boll develops.
4 comments:
I've never seen cotton flowers up close before. They remind me a little of lisianthus.
One year we were driving home from visiting up north and I saw the cotton fields. They had been picked, and the cotton was still on some of the plants that had been left. I made Ronnie stop and I got out and picked some cotton I had it here for years. Very interesting where fabric can come from! Loved seeing the blooms on your entry! Thanks!
Very observant, Del. I am almost certain that the hibiscus and the cotton plant are in the same plant family.
How lovely to see the cotton flowers. I had no idea what they were like, having only seen the bolls. Thanks for sharing.
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