Silk cotton tree - Kapok tree

Description:

The tree grows to 70 m (230 ft.) with a trunk up to 3 m (10 ft.) in diameter with buttresses. The trunk and many of the larger branches are often crowded with large simple thorns. The palmate leaves are composed of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm (8 in) long. The trees produce several hundred 15 cm (6 in) pods containing seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fibre that is a mix of lignin and cellulose. One of the oldest known trees, at 200 years, lives in Miami, Florida.

Habitat:

The kapok tree is native to the tropical forests of South America and West Africa rain. He is now found throughout the tropics. Ceiba pentandra is a light-needy tree that needs a rainfall of around 1000 up to 1500 mm during the rainy season.

Notes:

This tree was 40 meters high and 400 years old.