Sonoran Kapok Tree
Ceiba aesculifolia
Family: Malvaceae
OTHER NAMES
Spanish: pochote, ceiba
CHARACTERISTICS
Upright growing deciduous tree reaching up to 45’. Large, silky white flowers appear in spring when the plant is still dormant, followed by melon-shaped fruits that burst yielding a cottony substance that contains the seeds. Late to leaf out but looks attractive when dormant, partly due to the strange squat thorns that adorn the trunk.
LANDSCAPE USE
Specimen tree.
GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED
SUN full to part sun
WATER moderate
SOIL not picky, but well-drained
HARDINESS can tolerate light frosts but should be protected or planted in a warm microclimate
BASIN high zone
CONTAINER does moderately well in containers but will not attain full size
NUTRITION low
MAINTENANCE very little
ECOLOGY
Because this tree is bat-pollinated, flowers open on warm evenings then collapse with the light of day. Other nectar-seeking insects and birds will make use of the flowers.
ETHNOBOTANY
One of the many plants that produce kapok—the commercial kapok tree is usually Ceiba pentandra. The bark is used for the treatment of diabetes, kidneys maladies, tumors, gastritis, and wounds by the people of San Rafael, Coxcatlan, Puebla.
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
This species’ native range is Mexico, from Sonora to Guatemala.
TAXONOMY AND NAME
This species is in the Malvaceae, the mallow family. There are 20 species of Ceiba native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa.
This plant has formerly been known as Ceiba acuminata.
The genus name is derived from Taino, literally meaning 'giant tree'. Aesculifolia is derived from the Latin Aesculus (the Horse Chestnut tree) and folium meaning 'leaf'.
These trees are a regular component of the tropical deciduous forests of Sonora and the Sierras. Photo by Eric Hough, iNaturalist
A view of the thorn-studded trunk, photo by Eugenio Padilla, iNaturalist
The flowers, photo by Eugenio Padilla, iNaturalist
The melon-like fruits burst with a cottony substance called kapok, which contains the seeds. Photo by Caminantes del Desierto, iNaturalist