''Ceiba'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s in 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, ...

, native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

areas of the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

(from

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 ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

to northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) and tropical

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and

buttress root Buttress roots, also known as plank roots or stilt roots, are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They may prevent the tree from fa ...

s that can be taller than a grown person. The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is Kapok, ''

Ceiba pentandra ''Ceiba pentandra'' is a tropical tree of the order (biology), order Malvales and the family (biology), family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, ...

'', one of several trees known as ''kapok''. ''Ceiba'' is a word from the

Taíno language Taíno is an Arawakan language formerly spoken widely by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. In its revived form, there exist several modern-day Taíno language variants including Hiwatahia-Taino and Tainonaiki. At the time of Spanish contact ...

meaning "boat" because Taínos use the wood to build their

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...

s. ''Ceiba'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

(

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

) species, including the leaf-miner '' Bucculatrix ceibae'', which feeds exclusively on the genus. Recent botanical opinion incorporates ''Chorisia'' within ''Ceiba'' and puts the genus as a whole within the family

.A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS CEIBA MILL.(2003)
/ref>

Culture and history

The tree plays an important part in the mythologies of

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

n cultures. In addition, several Amazonian tribes of eastern Peru believe deities live in Ceiba tree species throughout the jungle. The Ceiba, or ya’axché (in the Mopan Mayan language), symbolised to the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

axis mundi In astronomy, is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the is the axis of ...

which connects the planes of the Underworld (

Xibalba (), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (in ) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the ...

) and the sky with that of the terrestrial realm. This concept of a central world tree is often depicted as a Ceiba trunk. The unmistakable thick conical thorns in clusters on the trunk were reproduced by the southern lowland Maya of the Classical Period on cylindrical ceramic burial urns or incense holders. Ceiba - Bagh-e-Jinnah

Modern Maya still often respectfully leave the tree standing when harvesting forest timber. The Ceiba tree is represented by a cross and serves as an important architectural motif in the

Temple of the Cross Complex The Temple of the Cross Complex is a complex of temples at the Maya civilization, Maya site of Palenque in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. It is located in the south-east corner of the site and consists of three main structures: the Temple of th ...

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

. Ceiba Tree Park is located in

San Antón San Antón is one of the 31 barrios of Puerto Rico, barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, and Portugués Urbano, San Antón is one of the municipality's five originally rura ...

, in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. Its centerpiece is the historic Ceiba de Ponce, a 500-year-old ''

'' tree associated with the founding of the city. In the surroundings of the legendary Ceiba de Ponce, broken pieces of indigenous pottery, shells, and stones were found to confirm the presence of Taino Indians long before the Spaniards that later settled in the area. In 1525,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Conquistador

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

ordered the

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

emperor Cuauhtemoc from a ''Ceiba'' tree after overtaking his empire. The town of Chiapa de Corzo,

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

was founded in 1528 by the Spanish around La Pochota, ''Ceiba pentandra'', according to tradition. Founded in 1838, the Puerto Rican town of

Ceiba ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall ...

is also named after this tree. The Honduran city of

La Ceiba La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida (department), Atlántida, and a port city on the northern Caribbean coast in Honduras. It forms part of the southeastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras. With ...

founded in 1877 was named after a particular ''Ceiba'' tree that grew down by the old docks. In 1898, the Spanish Army in Cuba surrendered to the United States under a ''Ceiba'', which was named the Santiago Surrender Tree, outside of

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

. ''Ceiba'' is also the

national tree This is a list of countries that have officially designated one or more trees as their national trees. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. Additionally, the list includes trees that we ...

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 ...

. The most important Ceiba in Guatemala is known as La Ceiba de Palín Escuintla which is over 400 years old. In

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

there is a 100-year-old ceiba tree in front of the San Francisco Church known as La Ceiba de San Francisco and is an important element in the history of the city. The towering specimen near the town of Sabalito,

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, is a

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

tree called "la ceiba" by residents and a survivor of one of the highest terrestrial rates of tropical deforestation. ''Ceiba pentandra'' produces a light and strong fiber ( kapok) used throughout history to fill mattresses, pillows, tapestries, and dolls. Kapok has recently been replaced in commercial use by synthetic fibers. The Ceiba tree seed is used to extract oils used to make soap and fertilizers. The Ceiba continues to be commercialized in Asia, especially in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, Indonesia and the Philippines. ''Ceiba pentandra'' is the central theme in the book titled, The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. '' Ceiba insignis'' and ''

Ceiba speciosa ''Ceiba speciosa'', the floss silk tree (formerly ''Chorisia speciosa''), is a species of deciduous tree that is native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America. It has several local common names, such as ''palo borracho'' (in S ...

'' are added to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink

Ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

. Pablo Antonio Cuadra, a

Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, wrote a chapter about the Ceiba tree. He used it as a symbol of the Nicaraguan ancestral roots, a cradle for the nation, and source during the people's exile.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepts the following 5 species: * '' Ceiba aesculifolia'' (

Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850) was a German botanist. He was also known as Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth. He was one of the early systematic botanists who focused on studying the plants of th ...

) Britten &

Baker f. Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949) was a British plant collector and botanist. He was the son of John Gilbert Baker John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an England, English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund G ...

Mexico to Costa Rica * '' Ceiba boliviana'' Britten &

southern Peru to Bolivia * '' Ceiba chodatii'' ( Hassl.)

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

southeastern Bolivia to Paraguay and northern Argentina * '' Ceiba crispiflora'' (

) Ravenna Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states in southeastern Brazil * '' Ceiba erianthos'' ( Cav.) K. Schum. eastern Brazil * '' Ceiba glaziovii'' ( Kuntze) K. Schum. northeastern Brazil * '' Ceiba insignis'' (

) P. E. Gibbs & Semir southern Ecuador and northern Peru * '' Ceiba jasminodora'' ( A. St.-Hil.) K. Schum.

Serra do Espinhaço Serra (Latin for " saw") may refer to: People and fictional characters * Serra (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Serra (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Serra (footballer), Portuguese footballer Jos ...

in southeastern Brazil * '' Ceiba lupuna'' P. E. Gibbs & Semir northwestern Brazil and Peru * ''

'' ( L.) Gaertn. Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, and northern South America * '' Ceiba pubiflora'' ( A. St.-Hil.) K. Schum. northeastern Brazil to Argentina's Misiones province * '' Ceiba rubriflora'' Carv.-Sobr. & L.P.Queiroz eastern Brazil * '' Ceiba salmonea'' (Ulbr.) Bakh. Peru * '' Ceiba samauma'' (

Mart. Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botany, botanist and explorer. Between 1817 and 1820, he travelled 10,000 km through Brazil while collecting botanical specimens. His m ...

) K. Schum. Amazonia to Paraguay * '' Ceiba schottii'' Britten & Baker f. southeastern Mexico and Guatemala * '' Ceiba soluta'' (Donn. Sm.) Ravenna Guatemala * ''

'' ( A. St.-Hil.) Ravenna Amazonia to Paraguay * '' Ceiba trischistandra'' ( A. Gray) Bakh. western Ecuador and northwestern Peru * '' Ceiba ventricosa'' (

Nees Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. ...

& Mart.) Ravenna eastern Brazil

Gallery

File:Ceiba Sapling 02.JPG, Ceiba tree at O Parks, WildLife, and Recreation, El Ostional, Nicaragua File:Ceiba Sapling 01.JPG, Ceiba tree at O Parks, WildLife, and Recreation, El Ostional, Nicaragua File:LaPochotaChiapa1.jpg, ''Ceiba pentandra'' found in the center plaza of

Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas Chiapa de Corzo () is a small city and municipality situated in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Located in the Grijalva River valley of the Chiapas highlands, Chiapa de Corzo lies some 15 km (9.3 mi) to the east ...

. File:Bombax LalBagh.JPG, ''Ceiba pentandra'' in

Lal Bagh Lalbagh Botanical Garden or simply Lalbagh (), is a botanical garden in Bengaluru, India, with an over 200-year history. First planned and laid out during the dalavayi, dalavaiship of King Hyder Ali, the garden was later managed under numerous ...

gardens in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India File:CeibaTreePeru02.jpg, Buttress roots of a ''Ceiba'' tree near the bank of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

close to

Iquitos Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province, Peru, Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the List of cities in Peru, ninth-most populous city in Peru ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. File:P5050265.02w.jpg, Flower of Palo Borracho, Cordoba, Argentina File:Flordepaineiraabelha.jpg, Flower of ''Ceiba speciosa'', Paineira rosa, São Paulo, Brazil File:Paineiraespinhuda.JPG, Trunk of ''Ceiba speciosa'' (Paineira rosa), São Paulo, Brazil File:Arvoepaineirabranca2.jpg, ''Ceiba graviozii'', (paineira branca), São Paulo, Brazil File:Brancaspaineiradetail.jpg, Paineira branca flower, São Paulo, Brazil File:Frutospaineira.jpg, Fruits, São Paulo, Brazil File:Frutospaina.jpg, Fruits, São Paulo, Brazil File:Cebia speciosa X C insignis open at 1006pm 14nov08.jpg, ''Ceiba speciosa'' × ''C. insignis'', a Huntington seedling flower, San Marino, California File:Ceiba-2.jpg, ''Ceiba speciosa'' in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

File:Ceiba-3.jpg, ''Ceiba speciosa'' in

File:美人樹 Ceiba speciosa 20201006185617.jpg, Ceiba speciosa, white flowers File:美人樹 Ceiba speciosa 20201105081642 01.jpg, Two-color Ceiba speciosa

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q284019 Malvaceae genera Natural history of Mesoamerica Taxa named by Philip Miller Flora of the Neotropical realm