Herbarium JCB

Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.

Family : BOMBACACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Malvaceae
Species : Ceiba pentandra
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.
Common name : Kapok Tree, White Silk Cotton Tree
Vernacular name : Swetasalmali (San.); Safed Simal (Hin.); Bili buruga, Haasige hati mara (Kan.)
Collection Nos : CJS 10315
Collector(s) Name : C.J.Saldanha
Key identification features : A tall deciduous tree with buttressed trunk. Three or more branches are given out at the same height of the trunk. Bark green when young becoming pale upon age with spiny projections. Leaves palmate, 5-9 foliolate, glabrous with an entire margin. Flowers are in clusters, often white to cream in colour. Fruit is ovoid-oblong, dark green in colour enclosing numerous winged seeds embedded in a cottony mass.
Habit : Tree
Native : South and Central America
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Collection Locality : Lalbagh (Bangalore)
Distribution Locality : Bangalore, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysore, Shimoga, Uttara Kannada
Floras referred : Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi