kapok

For the children's book, see The Great Kapok Tree.

Kapok
Kapok planted in Honolulu, Hawaii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Ceiba
Species:	C. pentandra
Binomial name
Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.

Kapok pod showing kapok fibres inside

Kapok flowers in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously separated in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety C. pentandra var. guineensis) to tropical west Africa. The word is also used for the fibre obtained from its seed pods. The tree is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, or ceiba. It is a sacred symbol in Maya mythology.

The tree grows to 60-70 m (200-230 ft) tall and has a very substantial trunk up to 3 m (10 ft) in diameter with buttresses. The trunk and many of the larger branches are densely crowded with very large, robust simple thorns. The leaves are compound of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm (8 in) and palm like. Adult trees produce several hundred 15 cm (6 in) seed pods. The pods contain seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fiber that is a mix of lignin and cellulose.

Uses

Kapok seeds within fibres in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

The fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient, highly flammable and resistant to water. The process of harvesting and separating the fibre is labour-intensive and manual. It is difficult to spin but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, stuffed toys such as teddy bears, zafus and for insulation. It was previously much used in life jackets and similar devices. Man-made materials largely replaced the fibre, until recently. The seeds produce an oil used locally in soap and that can be used as fertilizer.

Native tribes along the Amazon River and in the tropical rainforests there harvest the kapok fibres to wrap around their blowgun darts. The fibres create a seal which leads the pressure to force the dart through the tube.

In Southeast Asian countries kapok has larger seed pods and the fibre, which is highly flammable, is used as a fuel in fire pistons, in Thailand called taban fai ตะบันไฟ.

The commercial tree is most heavily cultivated in the rainforests of Asia, notably in Java (hence its nicknames), Philippines, and Malaysia, but also in South America.

The flowers are an important source of nectar and pollen for honeybees.

This tree is the official national tree of Puerto Rico and Guatemala.

Ethnomedical uses

Ceiba pentandra bark decoction has been used as a diuretic, aphrodisiac, and to treat headache, as well as type II diabetes.

Ceiba pentandra is used as an additive to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink Ayahuasca.^[1]

See also

• Fiber crop

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ceiba pentandra

• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ceiba pentandra
• The larger seed pods of SEA kapok and its use as a fuel in fire pistons
• 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.

Gallery

Kapok leaves in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.	Kapok Fruit in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.	Kapok bark in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.	Buttress roots
Cortex	Fruit