Sea Island Cotton (Gossypium barbadense)

Family: Malvaceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

Other known common names are as follows: Extra-long Staple (ELS) cotton, Egyptian cotton, Creole cotton, and pima cotton. Sea island cotton or Gossypium barbadense is a frost-sensitive, tropical, perennial plant with growing as a small and bushy tree of up to 3 m in height. It has yellow flowers and black seeds and it produces cotton with long and silky fibers.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Nuts/Seeds, Leaves

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Edible portion: Seeds, Leaves, Oil. Leaves - probably edible. Seed - ground into a flour and added to bakery products . An oil obtained from the seed is used in salads, canned goods and manufactured into margarine. — Edible portion: Seeds, Leaves, Oil.; Leaves - probably edible.; Seed - ground into a flour and added to bakery products.; An oil obtained from the seed is used in salads, canned goods and manufactured into margarine.

Habitat & North American Range

Not known in the wild. (Zone 10)