Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_gossypium_barbadense
Sea Island Cotton
Gossypium barbadense
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Sea Island Cotton
A branched shrub with leaves divided into three, five or seven pointed lobes. Large deeply toothed bracts surround yellow flowers with maroon petal bases, which may fade pink or purple. Narrow ovoid pointed capsules have three chambers and a surface marked with dark pits. Opening capsules expose seeds covered in abundant white cotton fibers. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.
Kauaʻi evidence
Generated media is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Gossypium barbadense
- Common names
- sea island cotton
- Hawaiian names
- pulupulu haole · pulupulu
- Other names
- Gossypium barbadense · sea island cotton · pulupulu haole · pulupulu
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Island-level public occurrence only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub; Shrub or annual subshrub, 1‒3 m tall; glabrous to sparsely stellate pubescent.
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Occupied area and vegetation cover; Mature plants and new recruits; Reproductive plants and fruiting frequency. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island extent and population trend · Measured local ecological effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- A branched shrub with leaves divided into three, five or seven pointed lobes. Large deeply toothed bracts surround yellow flowers with maroon petal bases, which may fade pink or purple. Narrow ovoid pointed capsules have three chambers and a surface marked with dark pits. Opening capsules expose seeds covered in abundant white cotton fibers. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.