''Bombax'' is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the

mallow family Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar o ...

. They are native to western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, and the subtropical regions of

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

and northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is distinguished from the genus '' Ceiba'', which has whiter flowers. Common names for the genus include silk cotton tree, simal, red cotton tree, kapok, and simply bombax. Currently four species are recognised, although many plants have been placed in the genus that were later moved. The genus is best known for the species ''

Bombax ceiba ''Bombax ceiba'', like other trees of the genus ''Bombax'', is commonly known as cotton tree. More specifically, it is sometimes known as Malabar silk-cotton tree; red silk-cotton; red cotton tree; or ambiguously as silk-cotton or kapok, both of ...

'', which is widely cultivated throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. It is native to southern and eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and northern

. ''Bombax'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species including the leaf-miner ''

Bucculatrix crateracma ''Bucculatrix crateracma'' is a moth in the family Bucculatricidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1918 and is found in India. The larvae feed on ''Bombax ceiba ''Bombax ceiba'', like other trees of the genus ''Bombax'', is commonly kno ...

'' which feeds exclusively on ''

''. The tree appears on the

flag of Equatorial Guinea The flag of Equatorial Guinea ( es, Bandera de Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Drapeau de la Guinée équatoriale; pt, Bandeira da Guiné Equatorial) was adopted on August 21, 1979. The six stars on the map represent the country's mainland and fiv ...

Description

''Bombax'' species are among the largest

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s in their regions, reaching 30 to 40 metres in height and up to three metres in trunk diameter. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are compound with entire margins and are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, being shed in the dry-season. They measure 30 to 50 cm across and are palmate in shape with five to nine leaflets. The calyx is deciduous, meaning it does not persist on the fruits. They bear five to ten cm long red

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s between January and March while the tree is still leafless. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are present in bundles in two whorls, while the staminal column lacks lobes. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

matures into a husk containing seeds covered by a fibre similar to that of the kapok (''Ceiba pentandra'') and to

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

, though with shorter

fibre Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

s than cotton, that does not lend itself to spinning, making it unusable as a textile product.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

'' currently includes:Plants of the World Online (POWO): ''Bombax'' L. (retrieved 10 April 2020)
/ref> *''

Bombax albidum ''Bombax'' is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. It is distinguished from the gen ...

'' Gagnep. *''

Bombax anceps ''Bombax anceps'' is a tree species now in the Malvaceae that was described by Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre from its range in Indochina. The subspecies ''B. a. cambodiense'' has been reverted to species ''Bombax cambodiense'' Pierre. Description ...

'' Pierre (syn. ''B. kerrii'' & ''B. valetonii'') *''

Bombax blancoanum ''Bombax'' is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. It is distinguished from the gen ...

'' A.Robyns *''

Bombax buonopozense ''Bombax buonopozense'', commonly known as the Gold Coast bombax or red-flowered silk cotton tree, is a tree in the mallow family. It is also known in the Dagbani language as ''Vabga'' (plural ''Vabsi''). It is native primarily in West Africa, ...

'' P. Beauv. *''

Bombax cambodiense ''Bombax'' is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the Malvaceae, mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. It is distinguished fro ...

'' Pierre *''

'' L. (syn. ''B. thorelii'' Gagnep.) *''

Bombax costatum ''Bombax costatum'' is a tree usually reaching a height of 5 – 15 m. It flowers in the dry season before the leaves appear. Distribution Its distribution is restricted to the savanna zones of West Africa from Senegal to the Central African Re ...

'' Pellegr. & Vuill. *'' Bombax insigne'' Wall. (syn. ''B. scopulorum'')

Formerly included species

*''

Ceiba aesculifolia ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to N Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, la ...

'' (Kunth) Britten & Baker (as ''B. aesculifolium'' Kunth) *'' Ceiba pentandra'' (L.) Gaertn. (as ''B. pentandrum'' L.) *''

Cochlospermum orinocense ''Cochlospermum'' is a genus of trees in the Bixaceae family; some classifications place this genus in the family Cochlospermaceae. It is native to tropical regions of the world, particularly Latin America, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and A ...

'' (Kunth) Steud. (as ''B. orinocense'' Kunth) *'' Cochlospermum religiosum'' (L.) Alston (as ''B. gossypium'' L.) *''

Cochlospermum vitifolium ''Cochlospermum vitifolium'' is a tree in the family Bixaceae. It is native to the Americas: from Mexico to Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South ...

'' (Willd.) Spreng. (as ''B. vitifolium'' Willd.) *''

Ochroma pyramidale ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

'' (Cav. ex Lam.) Urb. (as ''B. pyramidale'' Cav. ex Lam.) *''

Pachira aquatica ''Pachira aquatica'' is a tropical wetland tree in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to Central and South America where it grows in swamps. It is known by its common names Malabar chestnut, French peanut, Guiana chestnut, Provision tree, Saba n ...

'' Aubl. (as ''P. macrocarpum'' (Schltdl. & Cham.) K.Schum.) *''

Pachira emarginata ''Pachira'' is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America, Africa and India. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Previously the genus was assigned to Bombacaceae. Prior to that the g ...

'' A.Rich. (as ''B. emarginata'' (A.Rich.) C.Wright) *''

Pachira insignis ''Pachira'' is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America, Africa and India. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Previously the genus was assigned to Bombacaceae. Prior to that the g ...

'' (Sw.) Savigny (as ''B. affine'' (Mart. & Zucc.) Ducke) *''

Pseudobombax ellipticum ''Pseudobombax ellipticum'', with common names including shaving brush tree, Dr Seuss tree, and ''amapolla tree'', is a species of plant in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Distribution The tree is native to southern Mexico, ...

'' (Kunth) Dugand (as ''B. ellipticum'' Kunth) *''

Pseudobombax grandiflorum ''Pseudobombax'' is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. The genus ranges across tropical South America, Central America, Mexico, Cuba, Hispaniola, and the Windward Islands."''Pseudobombax'' Dugand". ...

'' (Cav.) A.Robyns (as ''B. cyathophorum'' (Casar.) K.Schum.) *''

Pseudobombax septenatum ''Pseudobombax septenatum'' is of the family Malvaceae, commonly known as Algodón de río, beldaco, ceibo barrigón, majagua colorada or barrigon. It is a deciduous tree up to in height which grows in semideciduous rainforest with a definite dr ...

'' (Jacq.) Dugand (as ''B. heptaphyllum'' L.) *''

Rhodognaphalon mossambicense ''Rhodognaphalon mossambicense'', the East African bombax or wild kapok tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It occurs from southeastern Kenya through the coastal and Eastern Arc forests of Tanzania to northern Mozambiqu ...

'' (A.Robyns) A.RobynsPlants of the World Online (POWO): ''Bombax mossambicense'' A.Robyns (retrieved 10 April 2020)
/ref> (as ''

Bombax mossambicense ''Rhodognaphalon mossambicense'', the East African bombax or wild kapok tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It occurs from southeastern Kenya through the coastal and Eastern Arc forests of Tanzania to northern Mozambiqu ...

'' A.Robyns)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q719028 Malvaceae genera

Description

Species

Formerly included species

References

Further reading

External links