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Cotton
(Gossypium. (Generic Char.)
So. Pacific Ry., 10-9-16. p.235

Although the linnaean sexual system of classification of
plants is no longer followed or taught, it still governs very
largely the methods and standpoints of systematic work. Nobody
questions the fact that floral characters are of very great
significance as indicating the relationship of plants, there is
increasing recognition of the fact that the significance of
floral differences is not the same in the different groups of
plants. Some families show great similarity in the forms of
flowers, and others great diversity. There is more and more
of a tendency to recognize the significance of other characters,
particularly that of the fruit, but there seems to be no truly
biological reason why any specialized features of the plant body
should not be taken into account in classification as well as in
the study of plants from other points of view.

The need of using for purposes of diagnosis other differ-
ences than those of the floral parts is greatest, of course, in
cases where the flowers have remained essentially alike, while
other parts have become more specialized. The cultivated cotton
plants and their relatives afford a good example of such a group.
Many of the genera that have been varied have had no general
acceptance among botanists, because little or nothing in the way
of floral differences could be alleged, even in cases where the
plants were radically different in form structure and habits.