The Kapok Tree

The Kapok Tree, Ceiba Pentandra, is also called the Ceilba tree or Silkcotton tree, which grow to 40 meters(130 feet) or more. It was the sacred tree of the Mayan people who believed that souls of the dead climbed a mythical kapok whose branches reached into heaven. This is not surprising, as a kapok tree can grow 10 feet taller in a year. Kapoks are beautiful trees with wide buttresses at the base, and large flattened crowns of leaves and branches. The trees drop their leaves once a year in the dry season exposing the branches. The dropping of the leaves may lead to the opening of large bell-shaped flowers, though this only happens every 5 to 10 years. The foul-smell flowers have 5 petals and are white or pink. They open in the early evening in time to be ready for the bats to arrive, Tropical bats provide most of the pollination for the kapok tree. Cross pollination is enhanced since only a few flowers open each evening. The branches come from top of the tree and extend horizontally which allows them to be covered with other plants called epiphyte., Most commercial kapok comes from the Island of Java in Indonesia. It is used to make furniture, insulation, stuffing and is found inside some life jackets, during world war two they were known as Mae Wests, because the fiber is light-weight and water-proof. Unfortunately, the fiber is not usable for clothing because is short and breaks easily so you can't make thread out of it like cotton. Kapok oil is made from the seeds of the tree and is then used to make soap. The seeds are edible and are eaten in some areas of the world such as on the island of Celebes in Indonesia. The wood is soft and is called bentang in Africa. It is used for making dugout canoes, carvings and caskets.