Medicinal
Kapok Tree
Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.
Mexico to tropical South America
Fun factResearchers on Barro Colorado Island in Panama measured a ceiba estimated to be at least 300 years old, with major branches 1.8 m thick. The tree appears on the flag and coat of arms of Equatorial Guinea.
One of the giants of the tropical American forest, a deciduous tree with a massive trunk, large plank buttresses and sharp conical prickles on young stems. Clusters of white to pale yellow or pink flowers open on leafless branches, and the large capsules split to release seeds packed in silky white floss, the kapok once used to fill mattresses and life jackets. When a large ceiba falls it opens a gap in the forest that looks, in the words of Smithsonian researchers, as if a bomb had gone off.
Sourced · see Record tab
4on the estate
0carrying a tag
4sponsored
FamilyMalvaceae
Spanish nameCeiba
Also known asKapok, Silk cotton tree, Ceiba, Ceiba
Native toMexico through Central America and the Caribbean to tropical South America; now planted and naturalised throughout the tropics
| Tag | Garden area | Zone | Planted | Status | Sponsored | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Entrance Driveway | A | 1 June 2015 | Planted | David V., USA | |
| — | Entrance Driveway | A | 1 June 2015 | Planted | Shawn G., USA | |
| — | Palm Jungle | B | — | Planted | David O., USA | |
| — | Palm Jungle | B | — | Planted | Steven S., USA |
4 of these have no tag yet; they will be numbered when the garden team re-tags the estate.