Ceiba aesculifolia
 | This article may require copy editing for making complete sentences in the Description section. (June 2025) |
| Ceiba aesculifolia | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Ceiba |
| Species: | C. aesculifolia
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| Binomial name | |
| Ceiba aesculifolia | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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List
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Ceiba aesculifolia is a tree belonging to the Malvaceae family. It can reach up to 30 m (98 ft) in height and has a thick trunk. In its juvenile stages, the trunk is covered with large, conical thorns. The fruit is a giant capsule that encloses the seeds in a thick layer of soft, white, silky fiber. This fiber has been used to stuff mattresses. Handicrafts are made from the bark and thorns. The tree also has medicinal properties. It is the sacred tree of the Mayans.
It is also known as ceiba and pochote.[3]
Description
[edit]Ceiba aesculifolia reaches a height of 10–15 m (33–49 ft), with a trunk densely covered with thorns. Leaves 5–7-foliolate. Leaflets of the tree range in shape from obovate to oblong-elliptic and are between 3–10 cm long and 1–4 cm wide. They can also be acuminate, cuneate, serrated at least towards the apex, glabrous or densely pubescent. Solitary flowers born in the axils of fallen leaves or somewhat grouped towards the apices of the branches, whitish turning brown inside; irregular and slightly lobed calyx, 1.5–3 cm (0.59–1.18 in) long; petals 8–16 cm (3.1–6.3 in) long, with dense yellowish-brown pubescence on the outside; filaments forming a narrow, pubescent column approximately 1.5–2 cm (0.59–0.79 in) long. Fruits produced by the plant range from 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in) long and can be up to 8 cm (3.1 in) wide.[4]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]Ceiba aesculifolia is found in low, dry, deciduous forests, as well as north-central and Pacific zones, at an altitude ranging from 20–850 m (66–2,789 ft). Found from Mexico to Costa Rica, it flowers January to April, and fruits May to June.
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was initially described as Bombax aesculifolium by Carl Sigismund Kunth in in 1821,[5] and was later transferred to the genus Ceiba by James Britten and Edmund Gilbert Baker in 1896.[4]
Ceiba aesculifolia contains the following subspecies:[4]
- Ceiba aesculifolia aesculifolia
- Ceiba aesculifolia parvifolia (Rose) P.E.Gibbs & Semir
Gallery
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Pochote leaves -
Up-close view of pochote leaves -
Floss emerging from seeds pods of a pochote -
Up-close view of a pochote trunk in Mexico
References
[edit]- ^ Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI); IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Ceiba aesculifolia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T150108748A150108750. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T150108748A150108750.en.
- ^ http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2707353 Ceiba aesculifolia en PlantList
- ^ Citizen science observations for Ceiba aesculifolia at iNaturalist
- ^ a b c "Ceiba aesculifolia (Kunth) Britten & Baker f." Tropicos. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Bombax aesculifolium Kunth". Tropicos. Retrieved 2023-05-15.