A towering emergent of Neotropical forests, Ceiba pentandra typically develops a straight, cylindrical bole crowned by massive plank‑like buttresses that may rise 3–5 m up the trunk. Juvenile bark is grey‑green and armed with stout conical spines, becoming smoother and grey with age. Leaves are palmately compound with 5–9 lanceolate leaflets (8–18 cm long).
Creamy‑white, five‑petalled flowers 6–8 cm across open in the dry season on leafless branches, releasing a musky odour that attracts nocturnal bats. Woody ovoid pods (12–18 cm) mature in early rains, splitting to expose hundreds of 5 mm brown seeds embedded in silky, water‑repellent kapok fibres. Trees reach 45–70 m tall and to ≥ 3 m diameter at breast height (DBH).
45–70 m height; 1.5–3 m DBH
Data deficient (Several Tons)
200–300 yr (occasionally longer)
Data deficient (monoecious)
Data deficient (monoecious)
5–15 yr (first flowering)
Flowers December – February (dry season)
Seed maturation 4–5 mo; germination rapid in moist soils
A towering emergent of Neotropical forests, Ceiba pentandra typically develops a straight, cylindrical bole crowned by massive plank‑like buttresses that may rise 3–5 m up the trunk. Juvenile bark is grey‑green and armed with stout conical spines, becoming smoother and grey with age. Leaves are palmately compound with 5–9 lanceolate leaflets (8–18 cm long).
Creamy‑white, five‑petalled flowers 6–8 cm across open in the dry season on leafless branches, releasing a musky odour that attracts nocturnal bats. Woody ovoid pods (12–18 cm) mature in early rains, splitting to expose hundreds of 5 mm brown seeds embedded in silky, water‑repellent kapok fibres. Trees reach 45–70 m tall and to ≥ 3 m diameter at breast height (DBH).
Primary producer and keystone nectar source for sphingid moths, nectar‑feeding bats and parrots; kapok seeds consumed by primates and birds, aiding dispersal.
“Social” Traits & Reproductive Behaviour
Flowering phenology: leafless canopy displays masses of creamy‑white flowers during the late dry season (Dec – Feb).
Pollination: primarily by nectar‑feeding bats—e.g., the Pallas’s long‑tongued bat (Glossophaga soricina) and the greater spear‑nosed bat (Phyllostomus hastatus)—which lap copious nocturnal nectar while transferring pollen. Large sphingid moths provide secondary pollination.
Breeding system: self‑incompatible; cross‑pollination promotes high genetic diversity in emergent populations.
Seed dispersal: fruits dehisce at the start of the rainy season; wind and up‑drafts carry the buoyant kapok‑fiber parachutes kilometres; seeds that land in rivers can float for weeks, enabling riparian colonisation.
Structural “sociality”: massive buttresses and forked limbs host a micro‑community of epiphytes, ants, tree frogs and cavity‑nesting birds; fallen buttresses create nurse logs that foster seedling recruitment of other species.
Kapok fibre was the principal stuffing for life‑jackets in World War II due to its buoyancy.
Sacred in many Mesoamerican cosmologies; Maya viewed the Ceiba as the axis mundi connecting underworld, earth and heavens.
Bark contains water‑storing parenchyma, enabling drought resilience.
Ceiba is the national tree of Guatemala and emblematic of several Costa‑Rican municipalities.
