''Pseudobombax ellipticum'', with common names including shaving brush tree, Dr Seuss tree, and ''amapolla tree'', is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

in the subfamily

Bombacoideae Bombacoideae is a subfamily of the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains herbaceous and woody plants. Their leaves are alternate, commonly palmately lobed, with small and caducous stipules. The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic; the c ...

of the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

Distribution

The tree is native to southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and Cuba.

Description

''Pseudobombax elipticum'' is a tree that can reach 18 m (60 ft) in height and 1.3 m (4 ft)

d.b.h. Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...

Its branches are close to the base of the stem. It is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree with

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

stems. Each of the flowers can produce hundreds of tiny black seeds (.1mm) that germinate within approximately 30 days. The flowers are cotton candy pink. featuring several hundred stamens up to five inches in length. The flowers are fragrant and are quite sticky if peeled back.

Uses

Uses include firewood and wood for carving handicrafts. The attractive flowers are used to decorate homes and churches in Central America. In Central America, a highly intoxicating drink is made from the tree.''Maya, Divine Kings of the Rain Forest'' (ed. Nikolai Grube), Köln (Cologne) 2001, pp. 430-ff. ;Cultivation The tree is grown as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in Florida, Hawaii, and coastal

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

Gallery

File:Pseudobombax ellipticum, Huntington.jpg, Trunk File:Pseudobombax ellipticum 06 ies.jpg, Leaves File:Pseudobombax ellipticum at Ringling.jpeg, Tree and blossom File:Pseudobombax ellipticum floral scale model.jpg, Flower in hand for scale

References

ellipticum Trees of El Salvador Trees of Honduras Trees of Guatemala Trees of Northern America Garden plants of North America Caudiciform plants {{Bombacoideae-stub