Bombax ceiba L.

Scientific Name: Bombax ceiba L.

Family: Malvaceae

Common Name: Silk Cotton

Hindi Name: सेमल

Description: Tall trees, trunk usually unbranched up to considerable height. Bark grey, covered with hard small conical prickles. usually disappearing with age. Petiole 10-30 cm long, pulvinate at the base; stipules triangular, 5-10 mm x 4 mm with hairy margin, caducous. Leaflets 5-7, glabrous, entire, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, attenuate at base, more or less leathery, unequal, 5-20 cm x 2-8 cm; petiolule 1-3 cm long. Inflorescence many fascicles of 1-4 flowers borne, at or near the end of branches. Flowers large, showy, red (occasionally yellow or white); pedicel thick, 2-2.5 cm long. Calyx 3-lobed (rarely 2-lobed), cup-shaped, 3.5-4 cm long, smooth outside, densely silky within. Petals twisted in bud, stellate tomentose outside, sparcely pubescent inside, elliptic-oblong, usually recurved, 8-11 cm x 4-5 cm. Stamens c. 75, united at base in 6 phalanges, each of 11-15 stamens, the inner-most phalange surrounding the pistil is composed of 15 stamens of which 5-innermost are the largest and forked; filaments 3.5-6 cm long, pink, somewhat tomentose, flattened at base; anthers long, afterward twisted, violet. Ovary conical, green, covered with silky hairs, 0.5-1.2 cm long; style simple, 5.9-6.5 cm long; stigmas 5, filiform. 5-6 mm long. Capsule 10-12.5 cm long; oblong, woody, 5 valved, profusely to finely tomentose. Seeds brown, smooth, obovid, 6 mm long, embeded in silky white wool.

Economic Importance:

The white fluffy fibres are carded into thread and woven into textiles in Nepal and India. In North India, the fibres are also used in pillows.

Medicinal Importance:

• Bombax ceiba bark exudates are also taken orally to treat worms and diarrhoea

• Seeds and roots of Bombax ceiba were used by traditional practitioners and religious healers of Bangladesh in the treatment of leprosy

Cultural Importance:

• It is said to be the tree of infernal region, and is called the tree of Yama (Lord of Hell).

• The wood is not used as fuel by tribals in Rajasthan as they think it will bring bad luck to them.