Bombax ceiba

Bombax ceiba, like other trees of the genus Bombax, is commonly known as cotton tree. More specifically, it is sometimes known as Malabar silk-cotton tree; red silk-cotton; red cotton tree; or ambiguously as silk-cotton or kapok,[3] both of which may also refer to Ceiba pentandra.

Bombax ceiba
Blooming Bombax Ceiba tree in Hong Kong
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Bombax
Species:
B. ceiba
Binomial name
Bombax ceiba
Synonyms[2]

This Asian tropical tree has a straight tall trunk and its leaves are deciduous in winter. Red flowers with 5 petals appear in the spring before the new foliage.[4] It produces a capsule which, when ripe, contains white fibres like cotton. Its trunk bears spikes to deter attacks by animals. Although its stout trunk suggests that it is useful for timber, its wood is too soft to be very useful.

Description

Bombax ceiba grows to an average of 20 meters, with old trees up to 60 meters in wet tropical regions. The trunk and limb bear numerous conical spines particularly when young, but get eroded when older. The leaves are palmate with about 6 leaflets radiating from a central point (tip of petiole), an average of 7–10 centimetres (2+5⁄6–4 in) wide, 13–15 centimetres (5+1⁄6–5+5⁄6 in) in length. The leaf's long flexible petiole is up to 20 centimetres (8 in) long.

Huge Red Cotton Tree at Kodungallur, India

Cup-shaped flowers solitary or clustered, axillary or sub-terminal, fascicles at or near the ends of the branches, when the tree is bare of leaves, an average of 7–11 centimetres (2+5⁄6–4+1⁄3 in) wide, 14 centimetres (5+1⁄2 in) in width, petals up to 12 centimetres (4+2⁄3 in) in length, calyx is cup-shaped usually 3 lobed, an average of 3–5 centimetres (1+1⁄6–2 in) in diameter. Staminal tube is short, more than 60 in 5 bundles. The stigma is light red, up to 9 centimetres (3+1⁄2 in) in length, ovary is pink, 1.5–2 centimetres (2⁄3–5⁄6 in) in length, with the skin of the ovary covered in white silky hair at 1mm long. Seeds are numerous, long, ovoid, black or gray in colour and packed in white cotton.

Huge trunk of Red Cotton Tree
Immature fruits of Bombax ceiba in Hong Kong.

The fruit, which reaches an average of 13 centimetres (5 in) in length, is light-green in color in immature fruits, brown in mature fruits.

  • Flower bud
    Flower bud
  • Mid-shot of flowers
    Mid-shot of flowers
  • Single (fallen) flower
    Single (fallen) flower
  • Blooms
    Blooms
  • Young Bark
    Young Bark
  • Mature bark
    Mature bark
  • Seeds
    Seeds
  • Phyllotaxy
    Phyllotaxy
  • Fallen flowers in Hong Kong
    Fallen flowers in Hong Kong
  • Up close of flower on the branch
    Up close of flower on the branch
  • Opened cotton pods.
    Opened cotton pods.
  • The trunk of Red Cotton Tree
    The trunk of Red Cotton Tree

Cultivation

The tree is widely planted in southeastern Asian countries and regions (such as in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, southern China and Taiwan, etc.). According to Chinese historical record, the king of Nam Yuet (located in the southern China and northern Vietnam nowadays), Zhao Tuo, gave a tree to the emperor of the Han dynasty in the 2nd century BC.

This tree is commonly known as Let-pan (Burmese language: လက်ပံ), semal (Hindi: सेमल), shimul (Bengali: শিমুল) or ximolu (Assamese: শিমলু) in India. It is widely planted in parks and on roadsides there because of its beautiful red flowers which bloom in March/April. This tree is quite common in New Delhi although it doesn't reach its full size of 60m there because of the semi arid climate. The cotton fibers of this tree can be seen floating in the wind around the time of early May. This tree shows two marked growth sprints in India: in spring and during the monsoon months. Perhaps due to subtropical climate and heavy rainfalls, it is found in dense populations throughout the Northeast India. In Myanmar, its flowers are let to be dry and cooked, which is one of the traditional foods of Myanmar.

This tree is also found in the eastern parts of Pakistan, especially in the eastern city of Lahore. The local Urdu and Punjabi names for the tree is sumbal, semal, sainbhal.

The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that the tree was at that time known as Bombax malabaricum, and its common names included 'Simool Tree;or 'Malabar Silk-cotton Tree of India' and that the calyx of the flower-bud is eaten as a vegetable in India."[5]

Uses

The white fluffy fibres are carded into thread and woven into textiles in Nepal and India. In North India, the fibers are also used in pillows. In Thailand, the dry cores of the Bombax ceiba flower (Thai: งิ้ว)[6] are an essential ingredient of the nam ngiao spicy noodle soup of the cuisine of Shan State and Northern Thailand,[7] as well as the kaeng khae curry.[8] Its flower buds known as "Marathi Moggu" are also used in regional cuisine of Southern India as a spice as well as in herbal medicine.

Role in Cantonese culture
See also: Cantonese culture
Bombax ceiba
Traditional Chinese木棉花
Literal meaningcotton-tree flowers

Bombax ceiba is literally known as “cotton-tree flowers” in Cantonese. It plays a vital role in Southern Chinese, especially Guangzhou Cantonese culture. It is the official flower of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China. With some trees flowering from late February to early May. Fruiting can start as early as March. At the peak of its flowering season, elderly people may often be seen gathering the fallen flowers from the ground to dry, which they later use to prepare tea or soup. The flowers are very attractive to local wildlife, with many birds like the Japanese white-eye, a type of fruit eating bird, which often draws a hole in an unopened Bombax ceiba flower bud. Honey bees, and bumble bees also attracted to the flowers to collect pollen and nectar. Because the flowers attract many insects, crab spiders can be occasionally found on a fully opened flower, hunting bees.

The flower was also used as the trademark of the Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines[9]

  • The tailfin of a China Southern Airlines Boeing 787 features a bombax ceiba flower
    The tailfin of a China Southern Airlines Boeing 787 features a bombax ceiba flower
  • The logo Guangzhou-Yiqi Bus (in the front) is also inspired by bombax ceiba
    The logo Guangzhou-Yiqi Bus (in the front) is also inspired by bombax ceiba
  • Up-close view of a typical, undisturbed bark in Hong Kong.
    Up-close view of a typical, undisturbed bark in Hong Kong.

References
  1. Barstow, M. (2020). "Bombax ceiba". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T61781914A61781917. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  2. "TPL, treatment of Bombax ceiba L." The Plant List; Version 1. (published on the internet). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  3. Brown, Stephen H. (2011). "Red Silk-Cotton; Red Cotton Tree; Kapok" (PDF). Gardening Publications A-Z. University of Florida.
  4. "Shimul". Banglapedia. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  5. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
  6. "Thai Plant Names". Archived from the original on 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  7. Cooking Northern Thai Food – Khanom Jeen Nam Ngeow Archived 2013-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
  8. LittleBigThaiKitchen (12 March 2012). "Kaeng Khae Kai (Katurai Chilli Soup with Chicken)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
  9. "标记的意义 Archived 2012-07-10 at archive.today" 南航官网. 于2010年1月14日查阅.
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