Bombax ceiba - Red Cotton tree

General Information Common Name  Red Cotton Tree Scientific Name  Bombax ceiba Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  Over 12m)(40+ ft) Spread  9 - 12 m(30 - 40 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green Flower Color  Orange, Red Type  Tree Native  South and East Asia

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision  Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class  Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass  Dilleniidae Order  Malvales Family  Bombacaceae – Kapok-tree family Genus  Bombax L. – cottontree Species  B. ceiba

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree

Red cotton tree scientific name is Bombax Ceiba is commonly known as Cotton Tree. This is a tropical tree and has a straight tall trunk. The trunk is full of heavy thorn. The leaves are palmate with about 6 leaflets radiating from a central point, an average of 7 to 10 cm wide, 13 to 15 cm in length. The leaf's long flexible petiole is up to 20 cm long. Its leaves are deciduous in winter. In the middle of spring it is full blooming and they are looking so beautiful. Cup-shaped Flowers solitary or clustered, axillary or sub-terminal, fascicles at or near the ends of the branches, when the tree is bare of leaves, an average of 7 to11 cm wide, 14 cm in width, petals up to 12 cm in length, Calyx is cup-shaped usually 3 lobed, an average of 3 to 5 cm in diameter. Staminal tube is short, more than 60 in 5 bundles. Flowers colors are Red and Orange. At that time huge numbers of bees and birds are gathering on the tree for honey. 

Bombax ceiba 

Bombax ceiba

The fruit, which reaches an average of 13 cm in length, is light-green in color in immature fruits, brown in mature fruits and looks like a capsule, when ripe it contains white fabrics like cotton. Its seeds are poisonous.

Although this is a tropical forest tree but most often it plants in the park and beside the road for its beauty. It is widely planted in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malay, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree in Spring

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree in Spring

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree in Spring

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree with heavy thorn

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree in Spring

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree : Flower Red

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree : Flower Orange

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree : Fruits

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree : log

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree : Young Plants

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree with heavey thorn

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree : Fruits

Bombax ceiba - Red cotton tree

Video of Bombax Ceiba :

One of the Largest Red Cotton Tree in The World