Passing Through
A little bit about the Wild Cotton flower and how we got our name.
Back in the early 1900s, the Wild Cotton plant was found extensively in South Florida and the Everglades. Wild Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum), is the ancestor of today’s commercial cotton grown in the southern United States. During the 1930s, agricultural interests believed there was a threat to the great cotton plantations from pests like the pink bole worm. They feared the bole worm might winter in Wild Cotton plants in Florida and then migrate north.
Because of concern over the agricultural threat and the need to employ people during the Depression, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project was established to eliminate Wild Cotton from south Florida and the Everglades. The eradication project took place from 1934 to 1938. Throughout what is now Everglades National Park, roads were built to transport work crews to eradicate the Wild Cotton plant. Vestiges of these roads still exist today as hiking trails along the coastal regions of the Park. Fortunately, the WPA efforts were not entirely successful. However, due to these efforts, Wild Cotton is now one of Florida’s rarest native plants.
* see image footnotes below
Though the plant is so rare, more uncommon is its bloom and flower. Today, Wild Cotton is found only in the remotest locations. Because it blooms for a just short time each year, in early winter, the Wild Cotton flower is rarely seen. Through the help of a Park Ranger, it was with great surprise and joy we learned a flower we had seen and photographed was, in fact, the Wild Cotton flower. Even more unique, this sighting occurred on New Year's Day, 2000, in the Everglades backcountry. The simple beauty of this ancestral flower inspired us to create Wild Cotton Revue, a simple bluesy duo. In performing as the Wild Cotton Revue, JD and Stan strive to create special moments, in the musical likeness of a flower so rare and appealing, known as Wild Cotton.
* Images from "The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida" by Gil Nelson, and our Everglades backcountry photo, New Year's Day, 2000
