Kapok fibre is a cotton-like plant fibre obtained from the seed pods of a number of trees in the
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, ...
family, which is used for stuffing mattresses and pillows, for padding and cushioning, and as insulation.
Kapok may also refer to:
Plants
Kapok trees
* Trees from which kapok fibre is commonly obtained:
** ''
Bombax
''Bombax'' is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian ...
'' genus, trees and shrubs native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia
*** ''
Bombax ceiba
''Bombax ceiba'', like other trees of the genus ''Bombax'', is commonly known as cotton tree. More specifically, it is sometimes known as Malabar silk-cotton tree; red silk-cotton; red cotton tree; or ambiguously as silk-cotton or kapok, both of ...
'', a red-flowering tree, native to parts of tropical Asia, northern Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands; previously also known as ''Bombax malabaricum'', the 'Malabar 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, ...
'', a native tree of the tropical Americas and West Africa with white flowers, cultivated particularly in south-east Asia for its seed fibre
Other kapok plants
* ''
Calotropis procera'', a shrub with white and purple flowers, known in some areas as the 'kapok plant'; native to Asia and North Africa, an invasive weed in other places
* ''
Cochlospermum fraseri'', a yellow-flowering tree known as the 'cotton tree' or 'kapok bush', native to northwestern Australia
* ''
Cochlospermum gillivraei'', a yellow-flowering tree, native to northern Australia, with the common name 'kapok'
* ''
Cochlospermum gregorii'', a tree of the Bixaceae family, named for the explorer
Augustus Charles Gregory and native to the Northern Territory and northern Queensland, Australia; it has the common name 'native kapok'
Other uses
*
Kampong Kapok, a Bruneian village
*
Kapok Computer, former subsidiary of the laptop manufacturer Clevo
See also
* ''
The Great Kapok Tree'', a children's book
{{Disambiguation, plant