STANDLEY — TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 791 



Leaflets usually much larger, mostly acuminate. 

 Mature leaflets copiously stellate-tomentose beneath ; young branches 



mostly unarmed 3. C. acuminata. 



Mature leaflets glabrous beneath or nearly so, the pubescence, if any, 

 chiefly of simple hairs ; young branches usually very prickly. 



4. C. aesculifolia. 



1. Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. Fruct. & Sem. 2: 244. 1791. 



Bombax pentandrum L. Sp. PI. 511. 17.53. 



Ceiba casearia Medic. Malvenfam. 16. 1787. 



Eriodendron anfractuosum DC. Prodr. 1: 479. 1824. 



.Eriodendron occidentale Don, Hist. Dichl. PI. 1: 513. 1831. 



Sonora (cultivated), Tepic, Guerrero, Yucat3,n, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas. 

 Widely distributed in tropical America, Asia, and Africa. 



Large tree, sometimes 40 meters high, with spreading crown; trunk often 

 with large buttresses at base, the bark gray or green, smooth but covered with 

 large conical spines ; leaflets 5 to 7, oblanceolate, oblong, or obovate-oblong, 

 8 to 20 cm. long, acuminate ; calyx 1 to 1.5 cm. long ; flowers white or pink ; 

 petals silky-hairy outside ; fruit elliptic-oblong, 10 to 12 cm. long, the brown 

 seeds imbedded in the silky "cotton." "Ceiba," " ceibo " (Yucatan, Oaxaca, 

 Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Cuba) ; " yaxchg," 

 " piim," " peem " (Yucatan, Maya); " pochote " (Jalisco, Veracruz); " arbol 

 de algodon " (Veracruz, Morelos) ; "pochote," " pochotl," " pochotle " (Vera- 

 cruz, Campeche, etc.) ; " cabellos de angel," " piton," " xiloxochitl " (Herrera) ; 

 " ceib6n " ( Nicaragua ) . 



The usual English name is " silk-cotton tree." The tree grows very rapidly. 

 The wood is white and soft, with a specific gravity of about 0.520. The trunks 

 are often used for canoes, because the wood is so easily woi-ked, and the wood 

 IS employed also for making packing boxes and matches. The most important 

 product of the tree is the silky fiber enveloping the seeds, which is very fine, 

 light, and elastic, and does not become matted under pressure. Large quanti- 

 ties of it are exported from the East Indies and West Africa under the names 

 " kapok," " kapoc," and " kapok fiber." It is employed for stuffing mattresses, 

 pillows, life preservers, and other articles. The silk is employed locally in 

 Mexico and is exported in small quantities. It is said to be worth about $1.50 

 (silver) per kilogram. The silk has been used in England for making beaver 

 hats. 



The seeds yield an oil used for illumination and for the manufacture of 

 soap. The buttresses at the base of the trunk are often very wide and so 

 thin that they are sawed into large pieces to be used as doors for native houses. 

 The leaves are reported to be cooked and eaten at times. The large flowers 

 are eaten by stock as they fall to the ground. The bark is applied to wounds, 

 and taken internally it is reputed to have emetic, diuretic, and antispasmodic 

 properties. 



For illustrations of C. pentandra see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: pi. 24; 9: pi. 42. 



2. Ceiba parvifolia Rose, Contr U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: 320. 1905. 



Guerrero to Morelos, Puebla, and Oaxaca ; type from Matamoros, Puebla. 



Small or medium-sized tree, the young branches usually armed with stout 

 prickles; leaflets 5 or 6, obovate-elliptic or rounded-obovate, often long-petiolu- 

 late, stellate-tomentose or in age glabrate; calyx 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; petals 

 about 13 cm. long, covered outside with yellow hairs; fruit oblong-ellipsoid, 

 8 cm. long. 



