FIBER PLANTS 177 



KAPOK 



Kapok is the most important source of silk-cotton, or floss. 

 The botanical name of the tree is Eriodendron anfractuosum. 

 The tree is indigenous to the West Indies, Asia, and Africa. 

 It attains a height of 30 to 60 feet, possesses a smooth bark, 

 and horizontal whorled branches. In some countries, as for 

 example in Cuba, the kapok tree assumes irregular and weird 

 habits of growth. For the most part, however, it is a graceful 

 and rather handsome tree. The leaves fall during the dry 

 season. 



The tree begins bearing at about 3 years of age. It is com- 

 monly estimated that 100 pods will produce i pound of floss 

 and that about 10 pounds of floss may be obtained annually 

 from each mature tree. The floss is used in pillows, mattresses, 

 and recently in life belts. It has been found of unusual merit 

 in the construction of life preservers by reason of its im- 

 permeability to water. The tree is propagated from cuttings or 

 from seed and is planted about 20 feet apart both ways. Kapok 

 plantations are often interplanted with coflfee for shade. The 

 pods are picked before opening and just after they turn brown. 

 They are then dried in the sun and the seed is beaten out by 

 bamboo brush or other hand methods. A satisfactory ginning 

 machine for kapok is a desideratum. A few machines which 

 are said to have given good results are now in use in the 

 Philippines. 



Floss is replacing cork for buoyant cushions and is preferred 

 to all other fibers in upholstery on account of its great elas- 

 ticity. The fiber is short, silky, and possessed of little drag or 

 the quality of adhering together, which is so necessary for 

 spinning purposes. The elasticity of the fiber, however, is very 

 great and for this reason mattresses and pillows made of kapok 

 fiber do not readily become matted. 



Java produces 10,000 tons of floss annually, Ceylon 300 

 tons, and the Philippines 100 tons. The demand for kapok is 



