Branched Lint Hairs in Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum

Abstract

DURING investigations into the development of lint hairs in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) branched hairs were frequently observed in slides examined microscopically. Up to 9 per cent of the hairs on a slide were found to be branched and occasionally two or more branches were observed on a single hair. Branched hairs were found to occur in a wide range of cotton types, within the species. The branches were blunt, tubular structures with a large central lumen continuous with the lumen of the remainder of the hair cell (Fig. la). They varied in length from 50µ to more than l,200µ and were approximately 50µ in diameter.