Ceiba speciosa

Flower name
Ceiba speciosa
Scientific name
Ceiba speciosa
Alias徳利木綿, Ceiba speciosa, 南米桜, ヨイドレノキ, ヨッパライノキ, Palo borracho
Place of originSouth America from Brazil to Argentina
Place of floweringBotanical Gardens
Flowering seasonSeptember, October, November, December

What is Ceiba speciosa

Ceiba speciosa , ( scientific name: Ceiba speciosa) is a tropical deciduous tree of the genus Ceiba in the family Malvaceae, native to South America from Brazil to Argentina. It has a bottle-shaped trunk with the lower third of the trunk swollen, and the thickest part of the body is 2 meters long. The trunk is covered with numerous cone-shaped spines that protect it from animals and humans. The bark of young trees is green because it contains chlorophyll for photosynthesis after the leaves fall. The leaves are similar to Aesculus turbinata or Tochinoki (scientific name: Aesculus turbinata ). In Argentina, it is called Palo (tree) borracho (drunk) in Spanish. It is probably because of the association with beer bellies. Flowering starts in November in Japan, with 5,000 to 6,000 flowers. The petals are pink to light reddish purple with a white to light yellow base. The winter fruit is a spindle-shaped fruit with many long, cottony, fiber-wrapped seeds that are dispersed as wind-borne flowers. The seeds are used to make vegetable oil, and the cottony fibers were once used to make vests to protect against poisonous arrows. In South America, the trees are used as street trees. The light weight of the wood is used to make lacquerware and clogs. The bark is used to make rope and one of the additives for the hallucinogen ayahuasca.

Common name: Ceiba speciosa, scientific name: Chorisia speciosa, also known as "Drunken tree", Palo borracho (Spanish), Floss silk tree, Silk floss tree, Place of origin: South America, including Brazil and Argentina, Distribution: Okinawa, Nansei Is, Tree height: 10 to 20 m, Tree shape: cone-shaped, Bark: dark green, leaf color: green, leaf shape: palmately compound leaf, leaf inflorescence: alternate, leaf margin: serrate, Flower color: light reddish purple; flower diameter: 10-15 cm; flowering season: September-December; number of petals: 5; fruit diameter: 12-15 cm; seed diameter: 1 cm; fruiting season: February-March.