Ceiba speciosa (A.St-Hil.) Ravenna

Scientific Name: Ceiba speciosa (A.St-Hil.) Ravenna

Family: Malvaceae

Common Name: Silk floss tree, Kapok,

Hindi Name: रेशम रूई 

Description: Broadleaf, semi-deciduous, large tree, to 60 ft high and 30 ft wide (18 × 9 m).  Trunks of young trees are greenish but turn gray with age and can be studded with large conical spines.  The lower trunk may also become swollen.  Leaves are alternate, palmately compound, with 6-8 lanceolate leaflets,, the tip is acute and margin serrate.  oblong petals, each to 10 cm long, white to cream at the base and the upper part pale-pink to rose with the addition of yellow or white and often spotted with purple or brown.  The fruit, a dehiscent capsule, is ovoid and about 20 cm long; in spring it splits open to release fingers of white cotton-like fibers and numerous black seeds.

Economic Importance:

The plant is harvested from the wild mainly for its seed floss, which is used as a stuffing material. It is often grown as an ornamental, being valued especially for its spectacular flowering display

Medicinal Importance: 

The tea obtained from the stem bark is employed in folk medicine to reduce cholesterol, triacylglycerides, and glucose levels.

Cultural Importance:

Religious Importance: The Aztec, Maya and other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures considered it sacred—a symbol of the link between heaven, earth and the world that was believed to exist below.