Phenotypic Documentation of Gossypium Species From the U.S. Cotton Germplasm Collection Using Digital Photography

The diversity of morphological traits in wild cotton germplasm collections has proven to be a resource for cotton breeders to introduce genetic diversity into a breeding program. Phenotypic characteristics of Gossypium species were documented from greenhouse grown plants using digital photography. A scoring system along with a digital image of traits ranging from quantitative descriptors to color, shape, size and pubescence of the plants botanical features were recorded. Digitial colored images of species specific characteristics will help provide references for future phenotypic evaluations.