Ceiba
Sign in to saveCeiba is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and buttress roots that can be taller than a grown person. The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is kapok, Ceiba pentandra, one of several trees known as kapok. Ceiba is a word from the Taíno language meaning "boat" because Taínos use the wood to build their dugout canoes
Species
Common Name: pochote
via · Kew POWO
Research
451 papers- The Biology of the Genus Ceiba, a Potential Source for Sustainable Production of Natural Fiber.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
- Sustainable biodiesel production from Ceiba pentandra (Kapok): a scientometric and technological assessment with performance, emission insights, and future challenges.Biotechnology for biofuels and bioproducts · 2025
- Ceiba pentandra cellulose crosslinked with citric acid for drug release systems.Carbohydrate research · 2021
- Liver exerkine reverses aging- and Alzheimer's-related memory loss via vasculature.Cell · 2026
- Single-cell RNA landscape of the special fiber initiation process in Bombax ceiba.Plant communications · 2023
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
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- Kapok tree-pod.jpg
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- 爪哇木棉属
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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 northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and buttress roots that can be taller than a grown person. The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is kapok, Ceiba pentandra, one of several trees known as kapok. Ceiba is a word from the Taíno language meaning "boat" because Taínos use the wood to build their dugout canoes.
Ceiba species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species, including the leaf-miner Bucculatrix ceibae, which feeds exclusively on the genus.