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cotton
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Rows of cotton plants with white cotton bolls fill a field under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Cotton plant Bundles of natural white and brown cotton thread are arranged in a woven wooden basket, ready for fabric or cloth production. Close-up view of a carding machine with metal rollers processing white fibers at a textile mill. Cotton spinning
Why does some clothing shrink in the wash?
Cotton Mechanized cotton harvest A field worker wearing gloves and a cap picks cotton from plants in a cotton field in Leme, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. boll weevil
At a Glance
Close-up of a cotton plant (Gossypium hirsutum) showing an open cotton boll with fluffy white fibers next to a closed, greenish-brown boll.
cotton summary
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Rows of cotton plants with white cotton bolls fill a field under a blue sky with scattered clouds.
Field of cotton Bolls of ripe cotton (Gossypium) in a field.

cotton

fibre and plant
Written by
Hans-Dietrich H. Weigmann
Vice President, Research, Textile Research Institute, Princeton, New Jersey.
Hans-Dietrich H. Weigmann
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

cotton, any of several economically significant species of plants of the genus Gossypium, widely cultivated for their seed-hair fibers. One of the world’s leading agricultural crops with a long history of use, cotton can be made into a variety of biodegradable fabrics. Although conventional cotton cultivation often requires significant agrochemical inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, organically farmed cotton is often seen as a sustainable alternative to synthetic fibers made of fossil fuels. Taxonomy See...

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