Kapok Tree
Ceiba pentandra
CEiba Pentandra
Ceiba Pentandra is commonly referred to as the Kapok tree, but is also known as Java Cotton, Java Kapok, Silk-Cotton, Samauma, and Ceiba. The common name, Kapok, may refer to its cotton-like fluff that can be obtained from its seed pods. The Kapok tree is a tropical tree in the Malvaceae family, and is native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, tropical west Africa, and northern South America.
The Kapok tree can grow up to 70 metres and have a trunk with a diameter of 3 metres wide. Even though the Kapok tree has smooth bark, the Kapok tree trunk and many of its branches are often covered with large thorns. The palmate leaves are composed of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm long. The trees produce hundreds of 15 cm pods that contain seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fibre which is a mix of lignin and cellulose.
The flowers of a Kapok tree are often on leafless branches or present when the whole tree is leafless and have pink or white petals.
The flowers of a Kapok tree are often on leafless branches or present when the whole tree is leafless and have pink or white petals.
Palmate (adj.)-(of a leaf) having several lobes (typically 5–7) whose midribs all radiate from one point.
Lignin (n.)-a complex organic polymer deposited in the cell walls of many plants, making them rigid and woody.
Lignin (n.)-a complex organic polymer deposited in the cell walls of many plants, making them rigid and woody.