Combo of ‘silk’ & thorns

Amarjeet Singh Batth

Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa or commonly known as the silk floss tree is a part of almost every garden design. It blooms giving showy large (4 to 6 inches) pinkish mauve flowers with creamy center in October-November before shedding its leaves in winters. The bare tree without leaves gives a classy structural appearance of its branching network. It is a species native to tropical and sub tropical forests of South America and is a member of the family Bombacaceae.

Chorisia is a tall fast growing deciduous tree that is drought resistance and moderate to cold.

The trunk of the young tree is green due to the presence of abundant chlorophyll which helps when it sheds its leaves in peak winters December-January. As the tree grows matures the trunk turns gray. The trunk looks bottle-shaped, bulging in its lower side and is studded with sharp conical thick prickles which make climbing this tree challenging. Therefore, when planted in habitation places like home garden ensure to keep a buffer zones for the safety of humans and pets. 

The leaflets 5-7 digitate, leaves are composed of five to seven long leaflets. The flowers are axillary or terminal, large, pink, appearing before the leaves and clustered towards the end of the branches.

Calyx is thick, campanulate, lobes 4-5. Corolla comprising of five pink petals, the inner half light yellow with dark maroon longitudinal markings. Stamens ten monadelphous, staminal tube pink, curved.

Things to remember

Where to plant: In a home garden it is planted as a specimen tree, on big round-abouts, in cluster in public gardens and also as avenue tree along the roads.

When to plant: The ideal time is in January-February and July-August. The tree spread is about 15-20 feet, therefore, one must leave same area when planted in home garden near to a wall and maintain the distance elsewhere. A 3x3x3 feet pit is made and left open for a few days prior to the plantation. Mix well-rotten manure and add DAP in the soil and fill it. Water it so that soil is completely settled. After 2-3 days make a hole bigger than the size of the root ball and lower it. Press it gently and firmly and irrigate it. Maintain good moisture level for few weeks till the plant is settled followed by regular care is required.r it immediately. Maintain moisture level for couple of weeks.

Care and Upkeep: It is propagated by seed and cuttings and is quite easy to maintain the plant once established. It blooms best in full sunlight and abundant moisture in a rich and humus soil. Light pruning can be done any time for good shape and form.

Once the leaves fall its fruit pods are hard for the lawn mower, so be careful. Three can be affected by scale. 

Importance: Wood being light and flexible is used for making boxes and packing material apart. The wood pulp from good paper material and capsule cotton is used as stuffing (now relaced with synthetic materials). Bark cures skin diseases and hypertension and also makes ropes and the seed yields oil both edible and industrial.

Ceiba is also the national tree of Guatemala and is significant in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. It is the theme of a book titled, ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ by Lynne Cherry. A ‘Ceiba Tree Park’ is located in San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico and is a centerpiece is the historic Ceiba de Ponce.

A 500-year-old Ceiba pentandra tree associated with the founding of the city and pieces of local pottery and stones are placed around as a testimony to the presence of ‘Taino Indians’ at a point in history.

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