A gargantuan tropical deciduous tree diagram , the cotton tree ( Ceiba pentandra ) blossom in previous winter that later on yield seminal fluid pod flush with source and beige cottony fibers . Also called the giant Bombay ceiba , silk - cotton wool tree diagram or lupuna , it piss a lordly summer tone tree with many decorative qualities . It spring up in warm climate , in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 9b and warm .
Taxonomy
Botanically known as Ceiba pentandra , senior but now defunct synonyms include Bombax pentandrum , Ceiba caribeae and Ceiba casearia , according to the author of " Tropical Flowering Plants . " Traditionally , it is regarded as a extremity of the kapok family , Bombacaceae , but New taxonomists run to lump it into the great hibiscus household , Malvaceae .
Origins
Cotton tree diagram is aboriginal to both tropic America and western Africa , being the tallest tree metal money on either continent according to " Tropical and Subtropical Trees " and TropiLab . In the New World the native range extend from southern Mexico to the Amazon Basin across Bolivia , Peru and Brazil . This tree is grow widespread across the tropic , so its nativity in Africa is muddy as it was grown as a craw tree diagram . Some propose the buoyant seeds journey to Africa on the ocean winds from the Amazon .
Description
One of the pioneer trees of the tropical rain forest , cotton tree quickly grow upward with a straight trunk with or without thorns on it . The branches shine out in tiered whorls . ripe trees reach high of 100 to 200 feet and 50 to 90 feet broad with a wide-cut , buttressing trunk flare . In late wintertime as the tropical wry time of year draw near its end , clusters of waxy pale yellow to ivory flowers with golden stamen don outgrowth crown . The five - petaled prime smack like milk and candid at dark , draw bats for pollination . The gullible , manus - like leaf then emerge in midspring on long petiole prow , comprising five to eight cusp . The flower grow into pendent green seed fuel pod that are sauceboat - mould and turn yellowish brown at maturity . The velvety pod split open to eject hundreds of belittled chocolate-brown seeds attached to recollective , silky hairs – the cotton . Leaves drop by in late fall when rainfall wanes , revealing the architecturally massive and interesting construction .
Economic Uses
The silky cotton fiber fibers , the " kapok , " traditionally were used to fill pillow , cushions and mattresses and , agree to " Tropical and Subtropical Trees , " were used in Europe during World War II for padding and render irrepressibility for lifesaving jackets . The germ are ample in crude oil and protein that is both eatable and utile for soap and lighting . rubble from seminal fluid pressing is used as farm animal provender . The wood of this tree is light-headed and not good for lumber , perhaps a reason it was not heavily harvested from tropical forests and old plantation . Native South Americans did practice hollow - out log for canoe . Today , the cotton plant tree diagram relieve oneself an impressive decorative Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree for subtropical region in green and big garden as well as just inland from the ocean .
Ecological Importance
Cotton Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is among the first trees to revegetate a rain forest clearing , quick towering up and providing shadowiness and cover for other plant life and brute life . Epiphytic plant like ferns , orchidaceous plant and bromeliads clutch to the branches and trunk of Tree leading to subsequent home ground for insects , snake , frog , birds and mammal like monkeys . blossoming and fruiting is heaviest in drier semitropic areas , so in on-key tropical rainy lands , the heyday may occur as infrequently as every four to five geezerhood , belittle the ambrosia usable to bats and ground - dwelling rodent once the flower petals drop . Abandoned plantations of cotton fiber trees perpetuate a woodland ecosystem .
