Look and feel 2. Resistance to heat, chemicals, sun, etc. The thick-walled xylem also remains and must be removed by scutching, which does not break bast fibers. Ginning - seed fibers, fibers are removed from seed. Cotton is easily processed mechanically.
Fibers dye well and withstand vigorous washing.
Natural history of cotton is complicated. Spcies were independently domesticated in New and Old World. Cotton fabrics 5000 years old have been found in Pakistan. Fibers are called staples, New World cottons have larger staples and are the ones most commonly grown. Gossypium barbadense - tetraploid, Egyptian cotton, other important cultivar, produces fine quality threads.