Cotton - Dried Branches

Common Names: Cotton, cotton stems, cotton branches, or dried cotton branches.

Botanical names: Gossypium hirsutum

Availability: Year-round as a dried mterial

Vase life: Dried material, several weeks

Storage temperatures: Room temperature

Ethylene Sensitive: No

Description: Woody, branching stems featuring naturally opened cotton bolls filled with soft, fluffy white fibers. The fluffy white material is actually fiber surrounding the seeds inside the mature boll rather than a flower.

Color: Creamy White to soft ivory cotton fibers. Medium to dark brown woody stems. Tan to brown dried bracts surrounding the cotton bolls.

Botanical facts: Cotton is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions.

Design notes: Dried cotton branches are a strong line and textural element in floral design. Their woody stems add height, direction, and natural movement, while the soft cotton bolls create rounded areas of contrast and visual interest. Because of their neutral coloring, cotton branches work especially well in autumn, winter, rustic, naturalistic, and contemporary designs. They can be used as an accent, grouped for greater impact, or allowed to extend beyond the main design to create an airy, sculptural silhouette.

Purchasing hints: Select stems with full undamaged and open bolls.

Conditioning: Dried material.

Additional notes: Globally, cotton is a very valuable agricultural crop. It is estimated that worldwide cotton production is worth more than $75 billion annually,