Several eye-catching exotic trees can be found in parks and gardens in southwest Florida, including different members of the mallow family, Malvaceae. One of these is the red silk cotton tree or Bombax ceiba, a deciduous species that blooms in the spring. It was brought to Florida in 1912 by David Fairchild, who worked for the USDA, under the synonym Bombax malabaricum (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture 1913). These trees are native to east Africa, India, China, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and Australia, where they grow in hot and dry savannahs and river valleys below 4,500 feet. Silk-cotton trees are known for their fast growth, and they can reach over 160 meters tall with a wide trunk that can have a girth between one to ten feet. The tree’s trunk is spiny when young, but the spines disappear as it ages. Among the nine Bombax species, Bombax ceiba is the most attractive, and three large trees can be seen at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus. One is planted near the south parking lot and Hudson Bayou, another by the historic Christy Payne Mansion, Selby Gardens’ Museum of Botany & the Arts, and the largest on the east side of the Great Lawn located south of the newly-restored Selby House.
The Bombax ceiba plant is presently exhibiting its blooms alongside Selby’s Great Lawn at their city center establishment. Aaron Fink has captured a stunning photo of this magnificent display.
A Bombax ceiba tree is thriving next to Hudson Bayou in the downtown campus area.
During springtime, the ground beneath the Bombax tree is covered with its flowers, which bloom for only a few weeks. These trees go through a quiet period during winter, shedding their leaves and growing plump buds on their bare branches. The flowers are big, fleshy, and can be red or orange, growing up to 6-8 inches wide. They are full of sticky nectar that birds, such as crows, love. Despite each flower’s brief life of only one day, they keep blooming, so the tree is always covered in flowers over its short 3-4 week bloom period. The flowers later turn into woody capsules, which split open to release hard brown seeds covered in silky cotton-like fibers called ‘floss’. The tree is commonly known as “silk floss” or “silk cotton” because of this.
The genus name Bombax comes from the French word bombace, which means cotton, and the Latin word bombax, which also means cotton. This, in turn, comes from the Latin word bombyx, meaning silkworm, derived from the Greek word bombux, which means silk or silkworm. Despite the name’s implications that the fibers are useful for the textile industry, the cotton fibers found in all nine species of Bombax are too short and full of lignin to be used in weaving. Instead, farmers grow these trees for their cotton, which is used for insulation, packaging, and stuffing for mattresses, life jackets, and pillows. Furthermore, the soft wood of the tree has many uses, and it produces cottonseed oil and a medicinal gum from its bark. Additionally, the flowers and their calyces are a staple in some traditional Asian and Indian cuisines. However, the tree’s primary value lies in its beauty as a flowering shade tree, which is why it is widely planted in subtropical and tropical areas worldwide. If you want to see one in full bloom, visit our Downtown Sarasota campus.
Here’s a wonderful shot of Bombax ceiba flowers and buds, captured up close by David McPherson. Check out the intricate details and vibrant colors that make this plant so fascinating. It’s truly a sight to behold!
