Brazil Kapok/Silk Floss Tree

Description:

The cotton inside the fruit pods, although not of as good quality as that of the kapok tree, has been used as stuffing, soft and flexible, and is employed in packaging, to make canoes, as wood pulp to make paper, and in ropes. From the seeds it is possible to obtain vegetable oil (both edible and industrially useful). The "Floss Silk Tree" is cultivated mostly for ornamental purposes. Outside of private gardens around the world, it is often planted along urban streets in subtropical areas such as in South Africa, Australia, northern New Zealand and southern USA. Ceiba speciosa is added to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink Ayahuasca.

Habitat:

Native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America, natural habitat of the floss silk tree is the north-east of Argentina, east of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil. I found this specimen in a region of transition between the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest.