CSIR-NEERI Biodiversity Portal

RED COTTON TREE / KAPOK

Bombax Ceiba

Botanical name	: Bombax ceiba L.
Synonym	: Bombax aculeatum L.
Vernacular name	: Red Silk-Cotton / Red Cotton Tree / Kapok
Family	: Malvaceae
About the Tree	: The trunk of large deciduous tree is usually unbranched up to considerable height. It is native to Cape York and tropical Asia.
Height	: Up to 100 ft.
Bark	: Bark 20-30 mm thick, grey mottled with white, longitudinal fissures,covered with hard small conical prickles. Usually disappearing with age.
Leaf	: The leaves are palmate with about 6 leaflets radiating from a central point, the petiole is up to 16 cm long.
Flower	: Flowers bisexual, dark crimson, 6-7 cm across, solitary or 2-5 together calyx campanulate, irregular 3-4 lobes, petals 5, obovate to elliptic- recurved, fleshy, tomentellous outside, imbricate; stamens 65-80, in 5 bundles, staminal tube short, filaments flat, angular, connate only at the base of the bundles; anthers reniform, style exceeding the stamens; stigma 5-fid, lobes spreading.
Fruits	: The fruit is a brown capsule to 15 mm long cylindrical, cuneate on both ends, filled with numerous black seeds that are covered in fine silky hairs (white cotton).
Season	: Leaf Fall occurs during December to March. Flowering occurs from January to February lasts upto mid March and fruiting from March to May.
Medicinal Properties Peculiar Character	: The flowers are used as astringent and cooling agent. It is used in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, styptic and for wounds. The paste of the bark is applied to skin eruption. : Silk cotton extracted from fruits used for stuffing pillows, insulating material for refrigerators and sound-proof covers. Undeveloped fruit called Marati moggu used as spice in Indian cuisine.