The Great U.S. Civil War, Native Cotton, and the Emerging Textile Industry in Peru
By James M. Vreeland, Jr.Originally published in Revista Punto & Plano, Issue 46, May 2025, pp. 22–26Translation authorized by the author. Cultivated extensively in the warm coastal valley of Piura since 1922, Pima cotton ignited a true revolution in the global textile industry. Called by many “Peru’s white gold” for its extra-long, soft, and strong […]
Amazon Kidney Cotton: Rediscovering a Rare Native Variety
In July 2019, during a routine field visit to the Shipibo-Konibo indigenous community in Yarinacocha, Ucayali, anthropologist Dr. James M. Vreeland, Jr. discovered a towering cotton plant—over 3 meters tall—with a highly unusual seed formation. Known as “kidney cotton” for its tightly packed seeds resembling a human kidney, this variety had not been formally documented […]