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WHAT IS A KAPOK TREE? |
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latin
name: Ceiba pentandra
(L.) Gaertner [synonym: Bombax
pentandrum L.,
Ceiba occidentalis
(Spreng.) Burkill, Eriodendron
anfractuosum DC.] family:
Malvaceae (mallow), previously Bombacaceae (silk-cotton) english:
ceiba, kapok, kapok tree, silk cotton tree, silk cottonwood portuguese: kapok, paina, suma�ma, suma�ma-verdadeira, sumaumeira spanish:
�rbol capoc, barrig�n, bonga, capoc, capoca, capoquero, ceiba, ceiba de lana, ceiba
yuca, ceibo, ceib�n,
cumaca, habillo, huimba, idu, igarwala, jabillo, kapoc, kapok, lupona, lupona
blanca, lupuna, lupuna blanca, miraguano, murules, palo santo, parana, pasayo,
pochote, puto, saquisaqui, toborochi uses/notes:
Leaves of this massive rainforest canopy emergent species are edible,
young fruits are eaten cooked and mashed, and seeds from the ripe
fruit pods contain an edible oil, which is also used in soap making and
burned for illumination. The tree's
large
fruit pods contain
kapok,
a silky fiber used for insulation, as a stuffing
(as in
mattresses,
life preservers, pillows, and cushions), and as rope to tie blowguns
together, for example.
Trunks occasionally are used for dugout canoes. In some regions, a
wrap made from the tree is placed around trunks of fruit trees to
guard against leaf-eating ants. Ceiba
pentandra
is the source of the kapok of commerce, Guatemala's national tree, and an icon in the humid tropics for its
immense size
�
over 160' to occasionally 200' tall and crown that can span 145' in
diameter
�
and massive buttresses. natural range: Although nearly pan-tropical under favorable conditions today, exact diffusion mechanisms (natural and human) from probable Neotropical (perhaps Central American), though less likely African origin remain unclear.
Reference
Kermath, Brian, Bradley Bennett, and Lydia Pulsipher. Forthcoming. A Comprehensive Guide to Native, Introduced, Cultivated and Wild Edible Plants in the Americas.
See also the Ceiba Foundation.
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