''Pseudobombax ellipticum'', with common names including shaving brush tree, Dr Seuss tree, and ''amapolla tree'', is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

in the subfamily

Bombacoideae Bombacoideae is a subfamily of the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains herbaceous and woody plants. Their leaves are alternate, commonly palmately lobed, with small and caducous stipules. The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic; the c ...

of the family

Malvaceae 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 ...

Distribution

The tree is native to southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hispaniola, Honduras and Cuba.

Description

''Pseudobombax elipticum'' is a tree that can reach 18 m (60 ft) in height and 1.3 m (4 ft)

d.b.h. Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...

Its branches are close to the base of the stem. It is a

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, ...

tree with succulent stems. Each of the flowers can produce hundreds of tiny black seeds (.1mm) that germinate within approximately 30 days. The flowers are fragrant and if peeled back quite sticky.

Uses

Uses include firewood and wood for carving handicrafts. The attractive flowers are used to decorate homes and churches in Central America. In Central America, a highly intoxicating drink is made from the tree.''Maya, Divine Kings of the Rain Forest'' (ed. Nikolai Grube), Köln (Cologne) 2001, pp. 430-ff. ;Cultivation The tree is grown as an ornamental tree in Florida, Hawaii, and coastal

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

Gallery

File:Pseudobombax ellipticum, Huntington.jpg, Trunk File:Pseudobombax ellipticum 06 ies.jpg, Leaves File:Pseudobombax ellipticum at Ringling.jpeg, Tree and blossom File:Pseudobombax ellipticum floral scale model.jpg, Flower in hand for scale

References

ellipticum Trees of El Salvador Trees of Honduras Trees of Guatemala Trees of Mexico Garden plants of North America Caudiciform plants {{Bombacoideae-stub