Bombax ceiba (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Bombax ceiba L.

Synonyms

• Bombax malabaricum DC.,
• Gossampinus malabarica (DC.) Merr.,
• Salmalia malabarica (DC.) Schott & Endl.

Vernacular names

• Cottonwood, Indian bombax, silk cotton tree (En).
• Fromager (Fr)
• Indonesia: kapuk hutan (Indonesian), kapok kalingi (Timor), randu agung (Javanese)
• Malaysia: kapok, tambaluang (Sabah)
• Papua New Guinea: bombax, kapok
• Philippines: malabulak (general), babui-gubat (Mindoro), taglinan (Tagalog).
• Burma (Myanmar): letpan
• Laos: ngiou²ban²
• Thailand: ngui, ngui ban (general)
• Vietnam: gạo dỏ, môc niên.

Distribution

From Pakistan and India towards Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Java, Borneo (Sabah), the Philippines, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Moluccas, New Guinea and northern Australia.