''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 West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

, where it is found in

rainforests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

in the northwest, east to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and south to

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

, typically at elevations of 900 to 1200 metres. A large tree, it often reaches heights of 40 metres (130 feet) with buttress roots up to 6 metres (20 feet) in diameter. The bark of younger trees is covered with spines and large, deep pink-to-red flowers emerge while the tree is leafless. Various parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes, as food, as a source of clothing fibre, as a building material, and as a dye. The fruits are eaten by animals such as the water chevrotain.

Description

''Bombax buonopozense'' is a large tropical pioneer tree that grows to 40 metres (130 feet) in height with large

buttress root Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...

s that can spread 6 metres (20 feet). The bark is covered in large, conical spines, especially when young, but shedding them with age to some degree. The branches are arranged in whorls. The leaves are compound and have 5 to 9 leaflets and 15 to 25 secondary veins. They are set on long petioles that typically measure between 22 and 14 cm. The individual leaflets have entire margins and are also quite large, measuring from 8 to 23 cm in length by 3 to 7.5 cm in width. The undersides of the leaflets may be either glabrous (i.e. hairless) or puberulous (i.e. very finely haired). The

bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

s are conical. The conspicuous

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 emerge while the tree is leafless and are either solitary or arranged in small axillary cymes. The truncate calyx, that is the whorl of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s, is 1 to 1.6 cm high and is cupuliform, or cup-shaped. It is also deciduous, meaning that it does not persist on the fruit. The petals are deep pink or red in colour and are 5.5 to 9.5 cm in length by 2.5 to 3.7 cm in width. The numerous stamens are arranged in bundles with two whorls. A curiosity of these flowers is that they fill with rainwater, and provide a home for aquatic creatures. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s are oblong and fairly large, being 8 to 18 cm in length by 3.5 to 6 cm in diameter. They are glabrous, either rigged or angular, and loculicidal, meaning that they open spontaneously at maturity along the capsule wall in between the sections of the locule. They contain many seeds that are 5 to 6 mm in length, all of which have a woolly indument, that is a cotton-like fibre covering.

Uses

Many parts of the plant are utilised for medicinal and traditional purposes. In

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, where it is native, the leaves are common as fodder for domestic livestock. The bark is burnt to produce a smoke that is believed to drive away evil spirits called ''alizini'' in Dagbani. The abundant thorns present on the bark are burnt and the resulting charcoal is mixed with butter to treat swelling. Dried gum produced from the tree is used as an

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

. The wood is quite light, which limits its uses to

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

s and other implements. A dye can be made from the

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...

s within the bark, while the

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 pe ...

-like fibre that covers the seeds is gathered and used as a cotton substitute. It cannot be spun, however, so its use is limited to a stuffing for pillows and clothing. Both the flowers and the young fruits are used in food. Various ethnic groups of northern

such as the Mamprusi and

Konkomba people Konkomba may refer to: * Konkomba people, an ethnic group of Ghana, Togo and Burkina Faso *Konkomba language Konkomba is a Gurma language spoken in Ghana, Togo Geography Konkomba is spoken in Ghana ( Northern Region, Volta Region, Brong Ahaf ...

dry and grind the flowers' calyces and use them in a soup (comparable to the use of calyces of the Sahelian red-flowered kapok tree, '' Bombax costatum'').

Description

Uses

References

Further reading