Pigmented anthers may be useful as a marker of anther-specific gene expression. The red anther trait has been introgressed into Gossypium hirsutum L. from a wild relative, G. armourianum Kearney. The objective of this research was to determine the pattern of inheritance of the introgressed anther pigmentation. A red anther G. hirsutum was used as the female in a cross with a G. hirsutum was used as the female in a cross with a G. hirsutum 'Stoneville 506' which had white anthers. The F₁ plants were selfed and used in reciprocal backcrosses with each parent. The F₁ plants showed an intermediate level of pigmentation to the parents. A visual analysis of the progeny suggested that the presence of pigment in the anthers is controlled by three genes. One of the genes appears to be maternally inherited and also a duplicate of one of the nuclear genes.