Ceiba trischistandra (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ceiba trischistandra (A. Gray) Bakh.

Family: Bombacaceae

Synonyms

Eriodendron trischistandra A. Gray.

Distribution

Peru and Brazil. Occasionally cultivated elsewhere, e.g. in Java.

Uses

The fruit yields a white fibre, which is of much lower quality than that of kapok ( Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.).

Observations

A tree, 10-20 m tall, with large buttresses and main branches in young trees erecto-patent. Leaves spirally arranged, palmately compound; petiole 10-15 cm long; leaflets 5-9, oblong-obovate, 6-12 cm × 2-5 cm, caudate. Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2-3, usually 5-merous, bisexual, regular, yellow-white; pedicel up to 4 cm long; calyx 3-4 cm long, densely rufous-pubescent; petals obovate, 5-6 cm long; staminal tube bearing apically 5 fascicles of 3 filaments each; style 6-8 cm long. Fruit a woody capsule, cylindrical-obovoid, 15-17 cm × 7-8 cm, pendulous, 5-valved, inside densely covered with white wool, many-seeded. Seed embedded in the wool (floss). C. trischistandra prefers a dry tropical climate, and growth in West Java is poor. In Central Java it flowers in May-July.

Selected sources

6, 66, 71, 190.

Authors

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch