RHE CUBA REVIEW 



11 



The silk-cotton tree in West Africa (Togo) occasionally attains enormous proportions. 



feet and upward to eight feet in diameter above the root swelling. No other tree in the West 

 Indies has a loftier and more majestic appearance. It not only develops the conspicuous 

 buttress at the ground, but a tree grown up in the open has enormous spreading horizontal 

 branches. Old specimens sometimes possess large open crowns that spread one hundred and 

 fifty feet. The largest and most stately trees are found in all open plains and cultivated 

 fields. The great size and noble aspect of some of the old ceiba trees are awe-inspiring to the 

 natives, and even the untutored colored people of Cuba are so struck with the majestic ap- 

 pearance of this tree that they call it the God-tree." Not even from the fear of punishment 

 will they be induced to cut it down. 



It reproduces itself freely by seed and young trees spring up in great abundance in all re- 

 cently abandoned fields or pasture lands where all age gradations are represented. It is a 

 fast grower and on cleared abandoned areas quickly gains the ascendency over most of the 

 other trees that may spring up. It is not, however, until the tree attains considerable size that 

 it attracts the notice of the traveller. A very singular fact about this tree is that the flowers 

 and fruits are produced immediately after it has shed its leaves. The branches and trunk 

 of the ceiba are beset with numerous large sharp conical spines or corky protuberances which 

 remain on the tree until maturity. It is difficult to determine just how old these giants are, 

 but it is claimed by some that they will attain the age of a thousand years. The large and 



