About Gossypium darwinii G.Watt
Common Name and Endemic Range
Gossypium darwinii, commonly called Darwin's cotton, is a cotton plant species that occurs exclusively on the Galapagos Islands.
Genetic Relatedness
Genetic studies show it is most closely related to the native American cotton species Gossypium barbadense.
Dispersal Hypothesis
Based on this relationship, researchers hypothesize that an ancestral seed reached the Galapagos Islands from South America, carried either by wind, in bird droppings, or on debris floating by sea.
