Kapoktree (White Silk-cotton tree) blossom and plant#

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) is the most used common name for this tree that is also called the white silk-cotton tree because a cotton-like fluff can be obtained from its seed pods.

The tree is cultivated for the seed fibre.

Kapok fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient, resistant to water, but it is very flammable.

It was much used in the past for filling of mattresses or for life jackets and similar devices until synthetic materials largely replaced the fibre.