Ceiba pentandra

Ceiba pentandra
In Honolulu
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Ceiba
Species:	C. pentandra
Binomial name
Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.[2]
Synonyms[2]
Bombax cumanense Kunth Bombax mompoxense Kunth Bombax orientale Spreng. Bombax pentandrum L. Ceiba caribaea (DC.) A.Chev. Ceiba guineensis (Schumach.) A.Chev. Ceiba occidentalis (Spreng.) Burkill Ceiba thonningii A.Chev. Eriodendron caribaeum (DC.) G.Don Eriodendron occidentale (Spreng.) G.Don Eriodendron orientale Kostel. Eriodendron pentandrum (L.) Kurz Gossampinus alba Buch.-Ham. Gossampinus rumphii Schott & Endl. Xylon pentandrum (L.) Kuntze

Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety C. pentandra var guineensis) West Africa. A somewhat smaller variety has been introduced to South and Southeast Asia, where it is cultivated.

The tree and the cotton-like fluff obtained from its seed pods are commonly known in English as kapok, a Malay-derived name which originally applied to Bombax ceiba, a native of tropical Asia.^[3] In Spanish-speaking countries the tree is commonly known as "ceiba" and in French-speaking countries as fromager. The tree is cultivated for its cottonlike seed fibre, particularly in south-east Asia, and is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, silk-cotton or samauma.