User:Meghmollar2017/sandbox/Gossypium arboreum var. neglecta

Gossypium arboreum var. neglecta, locally known as "Phuti karpas" or "Phuti Karpash", was a variant of Gossypium arboreum endemic to Bangladesh, especially near Dhaka along the river banks, and West Bengal in India, believed to be extinct. The cotton from this plant was used to make Dhaka muslin, a rare extinct fabric. It could be spun so that individual threads could maintain tensile strength at counts higher than any other variant of cotton. In 2015, in a project to resurrect Muslin, Phuti Karpas plants are being searched by planting similar plants along the river.

Description

Phuti Karpas was a perennial herbaceous plant with soft droopy stem. The green venous leaves were palmate, and deeply divided into three lobes.

Phuti Karpas would produce flowers twice a year and had very short fibers. These fibers needed special conditions, like selective humidity and temperature to be converted into yarn.

Distribution & Cultivation

Main cultivation area of Phuti Karpas was very small, along the high banks of river Meghna, Shitalakshya and Brahmaputra and its branches near Dhaka. The cultivation of Phuti Karpas was stopped by the end of the 18th century.

The variety of the cotton plant is believed to be extinct. In 2015, in a non-government project to resurrect Muslin, seeds of plants similar to Gossypium arboreum var. neglecta were planted along the river banks of Meghna in Kapasia, 30 km north of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 70% similarity with Phuti Karpas was found by searching along the river banks in Gazipur, Mymensingh and Chittagong Hill Tracts. Government venture to revive Muslin was implemented by Bangladesh Weaving Board, Cotton Development Board and University of Rajshahi which found 6 similar species to Phuti Karpas out of 39 collected samples from Cumilla.