Ceiba speciosa, Chorisia speciosa
Common Names: silk floss tree, kapok, floss silk tree, ceiba del
brasil
Family: Bombacaceae (bombax or baobab Family)
tree Fast Growing Flowers
Description
Silk floss tree is an awkwardly branched 30-60 ft (9.1-18.3 m) tree
with pale green leaves palmately divided into 5-7 pointed leaflets.
The young trees start out growing fast, straight, and narrow, then
slowly develop broadly spreading umbrella canopies as they age. The
bulbous green trunk is covered with big blunt warty triangular
spines and turns gray as the tree gets older. Silk floss trees
typically drop their leaves just before they put on their
spectacular autumn display of five-petaled flowers. The petals vary
from pale pink to rose to purple or burgundy at the tips and grade
into ivory with brownish spots or blotches at the base. The flowers
are followed by pear shaped capsules filled with many seeds embedded
in silky white floss. Chorisia taxonomy has not been refined and the
flowers of this "species" are extremely variable, so there is a good
chance that several different species and/or hybrids thereof are
lumped under the name C. speciosa.
Location
Silk floss tree is native to Brazil and Argentina, but it is
cultivated in many tropical areas. It grows well in parts of
southern California.
Culture
Mulch the root zone. This tree does not do well in competition with
lawn grasses.
Light: Full sun.
Moisture: Silk floss tree requires well-drained soil. It blooms best
when it is watered regularly most of the time, but kept a bit on the
dry side in late summer.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 9B - 11. Silk floss trees will drop their
leaves when the temperature falls below 27ºF, but established
specimens have been known to survive freezes down to 20ºF. Protect
young trees from freezes.
Propagation: This tree rarely sets seed in cultivation outside the
tropics and is reputedly difficult to propagate. Some success can be
obtained by rooting semi-ripe tip cuttings taken during a period of
rapid shoot growth in a closed container with bottom heat.
The spiny trunk makes the silk floss tree a favorite of
masochistic tree climbers.
Usage
Silk floss tree is cultivated as a flowering specimen tree. The
seedpod silk has been used to stuff cushions.
Features
This is a great exotic looking tree for quickly creating tropical
effects. It can grow 3-5 ft (0.9-1.5 m) per year when young and
never fails to attract comments with its spiny green trunk and
beautiful flowers that cover a bare tree. |
