The objective of this research is to determine if the wild G. hirsutum of south Florida is derived from accessions collected from any of the Caribbean islands. Our hypothesis is that the Florida cottons were probably carried to the southern coast of Florida from the Caribbean Basin by storms. A common characteristic among some of these accessions is their brown lint and their location next to the sea, a characteristic that may indicate an association with seed dispersal by sea. The DNAs of three samples of each accession from South Florida and each of the major Caribbean Islands was fingerprinted by AFLP techniques. Genetic similarity among accessions was evaluated by the computer software program Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (PAUP) and relationships displayed by dendrogram. Diversity among the cottons of south Florida and the Caribbean Islands will be presented and a conjecture made on the origin of the wild cottons of Florida.