Home > Kapok

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously separated in the family Bombacaceae), native to northern South America, Central America and the Caribbean, and (as the variety C. pentandra var. guineensis) to tropical West AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar. The word is also used for the fibre obtained from its seed pods. The tree is also known as the Java Cotton, Java Kapok, or Silk-cotton treeBombax buonopozense ''Bombax ceiba And six other species Silk cotton trees comprise eight species in the genus Bombax native to tropical southern Asia, northern Australia and tropical Africa. Other names include semul, simul, simal, red cotton trees or In. Also referred to as Ceiba, it is a sacred symbol in Maya mythologyMaya mythology refers to the pre-Columbian Maya civilization's extensive polytheistic religious beliefs. These Mesoamerican people followed their religion from over 3,000 years ago until the 9th century, and some stories continue to be told by modern day.

The tree grows to 60–70 m tall and has a very substantial trunk up to 3 m in diameter with buttresses. The leaves are compound of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm and palm like. Adult trees produce several hundred 15 cm seed pods. The pods contain seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fibre that is a mix of lignin and cellulose. The process of harvesting and separating the fibre is labour-intensive and manual.

The fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient, highly flammable and resistant to water. It cannot be spun but is used as a filling for bedding and upholstery, and for insulation. It was previously much used in life jackets and similar devices. The fibre has been largely replaced by man-made materials. The seeds produce an oil used locally in soap and that can be used as fertilizer.

The commercial tree is most heavily cultivated in Asia, notably in JavaJava ( Indonesian: Jawa , area 132,000 square km, has 114 million inhabitants and is the most densely populated island in Indonesia, with 864 people per km². If it were a country it would be the second most densely populated country of the world, except f (hence its nicknames), MalaysiaThe Federation of Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. It consists of two geographical regions divided by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula is bordered to the north by Thailand and to the south by Singapore; East Malaysia, and Indonesia, but also in the Philippines, and South America.

A similar fibre is found in the Indian Bombax malabarica, it is termed Indian kapok and is darker in colour and less buoyant than the true variety.