kapok tree, Bombax ceiba

ayuw (uk -)
ayub (ug -)
odngon (uk -/ug -)
in Uw Oykangand
in Uw Olkola
in Uw Ilbmbanhdhiy


Bombax ceiba

The kapok tree, Bombax ceiba (family Bombacaceae), is a type of native cotton tree with large red flowers. The variety B. c. leiocarpum is found in northern Australia. It is a lowland tree found in several coastal habitats: in coastal vine thickets, on dunes or cliffs above the beach or around lowland streams.

The taproot is edible, similar to the other native cotton tree, the forest cotton tree, Cochlospermum gillivraei. For more information on plant food and the traditional subsistence of Aboriginal people in central Cape York Peninsula, see the Edible plant products page.

e-mail: Philip Hamilton.