Thousands of years of cultivation have dramatically changed the fiber in cotton plants. Wild cottons have very little fiber, so little it might not be noticed. The fiber emanates from each seed. The purpose of the fiber to wild plants is unknown. Domesticated cottons have much more fiber. Besides for the more obvious long fibers, domesticated cotton seeds have short fibers called "linters". Some cultivars of "G. barbadense" have so few of these short hairs they are often called "lintless". They can also be called "smooth-seeded" as opposed to "fuzzy-seeded" "G. hirsutum".