ceiba pentandra kopok tree, silk-cotton tree · ceiba pentandra kopok tree, silk-cotton tree . by...
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Ceiba pentandra Kopok tree, Silk-cotton tree
By Isabel Zucker
Ta Prohm, Cambodia
Largest known specimen in Lal Bagh Gardens in Bangalore, India.
http://scienceray.com/biology/botany/amazing-trees-from-around-the-world-the-seven-wonder-trees/
Ceiba pentandra Taxonomy • Family: Malvaceae • Sub family: Bombacaceae
-Bombax spp. in same family - much online confusion as
to which tree is primarily in Ta Praham, Cambodia.
• Fig(Moraceae), banyan and kapok trees in Ta Praham
• Often referred to as a banyan tree, which is quite confusing.
Distribution • Originated in the American tropics,
natural and human distribution. • Africa, Asia.
– Especially Indonesia and Thailand • Indian ocean islands • Ornamental shade tree • Zone
– Humid areas, rainforest, dry areas – Mean annual precipitation 60-224
inches per year – Temperatures ranging from 73-80
unaffected by frost – Elevation from 0-4,500 feet – Dry season ranging from 0-6
months
Characteristics
• Rapidly growing, deciduous • Reaches height up to 200 feet • Can grow 13 feet per year • Diameter up to 9 feet above
buttress – Buttress can extend 10 feet from
the trunk and be 10 feet tall • large umbrella-shaped
canopies emerge above the forest canopy
• http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/ceiba.htm
• Home to many animals – Birds, frogs, insects – Flowers open in the
evening, pollinated by bats
• Epiphytes grow in branches
• Compound leaves with 5-8 lance-shaped leaflets 3-8 inches long
• Dense clusters of whitish to pink flowers December to February
– 3-6 inch long, elliptical fruits. – Seeds of fruit surrounded by dense,
cottony fibers. – Fibers almost pure cellulose, buoyant,
impervious to water, low thermal conductivity, cannot be spun.
• Used for insulation, padding in sleeping bags, life preservers, stuffing in mattresses and pillows.
– Kapok fibre is irritating to the eyes, nose and throat, and workers exposed to kapok dust for long periods may develop chronic bronchitis.
• Native peoples to the West Indies and coastal central and South America make canoes
• Some can carry more than 100 men !
• Wood lightweight and easy to work – Lacks durability,
susceptible to insects and decay so not used for other construction
• Dugout canoes still made today from Ceiba trees
• Buttresses made into plates, doors, trays, tables
Ethnobotanical Uses • Timber, fiber. • Oil for lamps, paints, soap making • Leaves can be eaten by cattle, goats, sheep • Leaves, flowers, young fruits eaten and
cooked into sauces • Flowers visited by bees, unique taste to
honey • Seed oil in soap and pharmaceutical
manufacturing • African traditional medicine
– Treat diarrhoea, dysentry, hypertension, dysmenorrhoea
– Stem bark decoctions for treating toothache and mouth problems, stomach issues, heart trouble, fever, asthma, wounds, sores
– Leaf sap drunk to treat mental illness, skin infections.
• http://database.prota.org/PROTAhtml/Ceiba%20pentandra_En.htm
Urban Uses •City of Plantation, FL Department of Landscape Architecture lists as a flowering shade tree •Roots tend to crack sidewalks, roads and buildings; large surface roots •Does not withstand initial shade; light loving •Requires pruning •Fast growth rate could promote weak structure and branch failure •Can grow on stone!
http://www.plantation.org/docs/landscape/recommended-tree-list.pdf
Urban takeover!!
Magnificent…
Diseases
• Infections caused by fungal pathogens – Anthracnose, leaf spot by Colletortrichum capsici. – Stem dieback by Fusarium solani , Lasiodiplodia
theobromae • Host tree of Cacao Swollen Shoot Virus,
causes swollen shoot disease in cocoa – Devastates cocoa production in Ghana and
neighboring countries – Ceiba not negatively effected by virus – http://database.prota.org/PROTAhtml/Ceiba%20pentandra_En.htm
Bibliography
• “Silk Cotton Tree: Home to the spirits of the forest.” Caribbean Archaeology . Florida Museum of Natural History. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/ceiba.htm
• http://www.ceiba.org/ceiba.htm • http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pubs/sm_iitf029%2
0%20%284%29.pdf • http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Ceiba_
pentandra.pdf • http://www.plantation.org/docs/landscape/recom
mended-tree-list.pdf