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Bombax ceiba
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Family:
BOMBACACEAE
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Citation: Bombax ceiba L., Sp. Pl. 511. 1753; Nicolson, Taxon 28: 370. 1979; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 50. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 92. 1984; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 79. 1985; Manilal, Fl. Silent Valley 30. 1988; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 66. 1988; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 80. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 76. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 86. 1990; M.P. Nayar & Biswas in B.D. Sharma & Sanjappa, Fl. India 3: 398. 1993; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 83. 1994; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 37. 1995; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 64. 1996; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 96. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 40. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 34. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 40. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 31. 2002; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 104. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 93. 2005; S.K. Srivastava & K. Vivek. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 443. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 134. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 159. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 160. 2009.
Bombax malabaricum DC., Prodr. 1: 479. 1824; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 349. 1874; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 99(71). 1915.
Salmalia malabarica (DC.) Schott & Endl., Melet. Bot. 35. 1832.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Elavu, Ilavu, Kandilavu, Mocha, Mullilavu, Panjimaram, Pichila, Poola, Poorani, Pulamaram, Unnamurikku
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Kapok tree, Red silk cotton tree, Indian bombax
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Description:
Deciduous trees; to 45 m high; bole straight, buttress 1-2 m high, armed with conical prickles; bark 20-30 mm thick, grey mottled with white, longitudinal fissures shallow; branches horizontal and more or less whorled; branchlets prickly. Leaves digitately-compound, alternate, stipulate; rachis 12-25 cm, stout, swollen at base, glabrous; leaflets 5-7, whorled; 10-20 x 2-6 cm, elliptic, elliptic-ovate or elliptic-obovate, apex caudate-acuminate, base attenuate or cuneate, margin entire, glabrous, chartaceous; lateral nerves 8-14 pairs, parallel, slightly ascending, prominent, secondary laterals also seen; intercostae reticulate; petiolule 14-25 mm long, stout, glabrous; stipules small, lateral;. Flowers bisexual, dark crimson, 6-7 cm across, solitary or 2-5 together; pedicels 1-2 cm long, thick. Calyx campanulate, irregularly lobed, lobes 3-4 x 3 cm, coriaceous, glabrous to sparsely puberulous outside, silky inside, falling of with corolla and stamens. Petals 5, 8.5-18 x 3.5-5 cm, obovate to elliptic-obovate, recurved, fleshy, tomentellous outside, imbricate. Stamens 65-80, 3-7.5 cm long in 5 bundles; staminal tube short; filaments flat, angular, connate only at the base of the bundles; anthers reniform. Ovary conical, tomentose, 5-celled; ovules many; style exceeding the stamens; stigma 5-fid, lobes spreading. Fruit a capsule, 8-10 x 3 cm, downy tomentose, cylindrical, cuneate on both ends, blackish and glabrous at maturity, the columella brownish; seeds numerous, pyriform, smooth, dark brown, embedded in white cotton.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
January-April
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests, also in the plains
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Distribution:
Tropical Asia and New Guinea
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Red
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Peechi, Rosemala, Palapetty, Koruthode, Orukomban, Moozhiar, Panthenthode border, Karimbam, Chitoor-Agali area, Mangalam Dam area, Cheriyanad, Karimpuzha, Thenmalai, Karamanayar region
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