**5. Conclusions**

Both top and bottom branches of the cotton plant exhibited variable responses for physiological and morphological traits. Significant genotypic variability for these attributes was also observed. The bottom branches of the genotypes performed better for all the recorded parameters except boll weight which was non-significant for both positions. The high temperature was found to disrupt plant physiology and morphology more on top position flowers. Further study of the shading effect is an objective for future breeding programs. A focus on increasing vegetative growth, leaf surface area, and a more spreading growth pattern would increase the canopy size and allow for shading to improve pollen germination and pollen tube growth. Further, research focusing on increased resilience to high temperature itself would allow top portions of a cotton plant to deliver a higher yield thus increasing overall yields.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.T.A., I.A.R. and S.-H.Y.; methodology, M.T.A., A.u.R., M.Z., M.T.C. and S.M.; software, A.u.R., X.D., Y.J.; validation, M.T.A., S.M. and I.A.R. formal analysis, A.u.R. and M.T.C.; investigation, M.T.A., L.H. and A.u.R.; data curation, M.Z. and A.u.R., writing original draft preparation, A.u.R. and M.T.C. and S.M.; writing—review and editing, M.T.A., I.A.R., G.C., A.u.R., S.M. and L.H.; supervision, M.T.A.; funding acquisition, S.-H.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This work was carried out with the support of "Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1F1A10554820).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors are grateful to the Lab. Incharge for provision of necessary equipment and chemicals at the Center for Advanced Studies, University of Faisalabad (Pakistan). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
