Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the orderMalvales and the familyMalvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety C. pentandra var guineensis) West Africa. A somewhat smaller variety has been introduced to South and Southeast Asia, where it is cultivated.
The tree and the cotton-like fluff obtained from its seed pods are commonly known in English as kapok, a Malay-derived name which originally applied to Bombax ceiba, a native of tropical Asia.[3] In Spanish-speaking countries the tree is commonly known as "ceiba" and in French-speaking countries as fromager. The tree is cultivated for its cottonlike seed fibre, particularly in south-east Asia, and is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, silk-cotton or samauma.
Characteristics
Base of giant specimen in eastern Ecuador
The tree grows up to 240 ft (73 m) tall as confirmed by climbing and tape drop[4] with reports of Kapoks up to 77 meters (252 feet) tall.[5] These very large trees are in the Neotropics or tropical Africa. The Southeast Asian form of C. pentandra only reaches ninety feet (27 meters).[6] Trunks can often be up to 3 m (10 ft) in diameter above the extensive buttress roots. The very largest individuals, however, can be 5.8 m (19 ft) thick or more above the buttresses.[7][8][9][10]
The buttress roots can be clearly seen in photographs extending 12 to 15 m (40 to 50 ft) up the trunk of some specimens[11] and extending out from the trunk as much as 20 m (65 ft) and then continuing below ground to a total length of 50 m (165 ft)[12][13]
The trunk and many of the larger branches are often crowded with large simple thorns. These major branches, usually 4 to 6 in number, can be up to 1.8 m (6 ft) thick[14][15] and form a crown of foliage as much as 61 m (201 ft) in width.[16] The palmate leaves are composed of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm (8 in) long.
The trees produce several hundred 15 cm (6 in) pods containing seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fibre that is a mix of lignin and cellulose.
The referenced reports make it clear that C. pentandra is among the largest trees in the world.
The commercial tree is most heavily cultivated in the rainforests of Asia, notably in Java (hence one of its common names), the Philippines, Malaysia, and Hainan Island in China, as well as in South America.
Bats are the primary pollinators of the night-blooming flowers.
Kapok Fibre
Native tribes along the Amazon River harvest the fibre to wrap around their blowgun darts. The fibres create a seal that allows the pressure to force the dart through the tube.
The fiber is light, very buoyant, resilient, resistant to water, but very flammable. The process of harvesting and separating the fiber is labor-intensive and menial. It is difficult to spin, but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, zafus, and stuffed toys such as teddy bears, and for insulation. It was previously popularly used in life jackets and similar devices - until synthetic materials largely replaced the fiber.
A vegetable oil can be pressed from the seeds. The oil has a yellow colour and a pleasant, mild odour and taste,[17] resembling cottonseed oil. It becomes rancid quickly when exposed to air. Kapok oil is produced in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It has an iodine value of 85–100; this makes it a nondrying oil, which means that it does not dry out significantly when exposed to air.[17] The oil has some potential as a biofuel and in paint preparation.
The Ceiba is an important tree in Cuban culture. It is a sacred tree in Palo, Arará and Santería.[19][20] Following from its religious connection to the Orishas of Santería, many rituals and customs surround the tree: offerings are be placed or buried near the trunks, the trees are circumambulated, and the trees are generally not tampered with out of respect.[21] Unrelated to Santería, the ceiba also features in folklore, and is associated with güijes.
According to the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, the Castle of the Devil is a huge C. pentandra growing deep in the forest in which Bazil, the demon of death, was imprisoned by a carpenter. The carpenter tricked the devil into entering the tree in which he carved seven rooms, one above the other, into the trunk. Folklore claims that Bazil still resides in that tree.[22]
Most masks from Burkina Faso, especially those of Bobo and Mossi people, are carved from C. pentandra timber.[23]
C. pentandra is known as the Kankantrie/Kankantri among the Afro-Surinamese community, particularly those that subscribe to the Winti religion. The important role of the Kankantrie among the Afro-Surinamese as a holy residence for spirits has been documented for centuries. Despite the efforts of the Dutch to convert African slaves in Suriname to Christianity, many black Surinamese people continue to hold the tree in high regard.[24] Cutting the tree is avoided even in modern-day Suriname, and often paired with a ritual in cases where cutting the tree is unavoidable.[25]
The Cotton Tree was a landmark in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, and is considered a symbol of freedom for the former slaves that immigrated there. The 70-metre-tall trunk snapped near the base, and fell in a storm on 24 May 2023.[28]
Saigon, currently known as Ho Chi Minh City, may be derived from Sài (Sino-Vietnamese "palisade" etc.) and the Vietnamese name for the Kapok tree (bông) gòn, although, in this instance, the tree intended to be named may well be, not the New WorldCeiba pentandra, but the Old WorldBombax ceiba.
Gallery
Canopy
Underside of single leaf
Thorny buttress roots and trunk base
Flowers in profile
Fruit close-up
Twigs laden with dehiscent fruit showing kapok
Single dehiscent fruit revealing kapok-surrounded seeds
^Dr. Al C. Carder, FOREST GIANTS OF THE WORLD (Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1995) p. 145 (Photo plate 123 with caption).
^Peter A. Furley D. Phil. and Walter W. Newey Ph.D., GEOGRAPHY OF THE BIOSPHERE (London: Butterworth, 1983) p. 279.
^Michael Bright et al, 1000 WONDERS OF NATURE (London: Reader's Digest Assoc., 2001) p. 332.
^Linda Gamlin and Anuschka de Rohan, MYSTERIES OF THE RAINFOREST (Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Assoc., 1998) p. 79.
^Ivan T. Sanderson and David Loth, IVAN T. SANDERSON'S BOOK OF GREAT JUNGLES (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965) p. 78.
^Dr. Al C. Carder, GIANT TREES OF WESTERN AMERICA AND THE WORLD (Madeira Park, British Columbia: Harbour Publishing, 2005) p. 129. Measured by Prof. Robert van Pelt in 2003.
Ceiba pentandra in Brunken, U., Schmidt, M., Dressler, S., Janssen, T., Thombiano, A. & Zizka, G. 2008. West African plants – A Photo Guide. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main.
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