Gossampinus malabarica seed
LATIN NAME: Bombax ceiba
COMMON NAME: Cotton Tree
The cotton tree is the red silk tree of the warm street, and the large, red flowers open in the bare crown before the leaves. The tall, deciduous tree carries the spreading crown of the palmately lobed leaves and the large, showy, red or crimson flowers with the many stamens through the late winter and the early spring, to be followed by the oval capsules of the silky, cotton-like floss. The tree is a fine, bold presence of the warm street and the open garden. It is a tree of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The cotton tree is a bold subject of the plant science, and the red flowers keep showing up in the work on the warm silk-cotton trees. The way the flowers open in the bare crown before the leaves has been examined closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the tropical trees, the flowering giants and the members of the mallow family. The palmately lobed leaves and the tall, spreading habit have also made it a fine study tree, and the cotton tree is a regular subject of the work on the red giants of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The cotton tree is a fine, bold tree of the warm street and the open garden. The large, showy, red or crimson flowers open in the bare crown through the late winter, one of the fine, dramatic sights of the warm city, drawing the birds and the bees, and the oval capsules follow with the silky, cotton-like floss of the old trade. The floss has filled the pillows and the life jackets of the warm lands, and the tree is one of the fine choices for the warm street, the park and the large garden. It has been written about in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the red flowers and the silky floss, and it is a fine, long-lived tree of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden.
Collect the silky floss from the split capsules on the dry days, and keep the seeds of the tree for the sowing.
To grow the cotton tree from seed, sow the small, brown seeds a centimetre down in pots of moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out after the last frosts. The seedlings show themselves within a few weeks and grow on fast. With the sun, the warmth and the deep, well-drained ground, the red crown will open through the warm season.
Uses: Medicinal. Ornamental
