Skip to content
sintropia.club
PT EN

Plants

kapok tree

Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.

Family: Malvaceae · Genus: Ceiba

ceiba, white silk-cotton tree

Climax Emergent Mulch biomass
no rights reserved · CC0 · iNaturalist

Amazonian emergent giant reaching 70 m — one of the tallest trees of the American tropics. Pasini lists it in the emergent stratum of Tabela 3. Sacred in several indigenous and Afro-Brazilian traditions.

Götsch succession

Götsch stage
Climax
Ecological role
Climax
Primary stratum
Emergent
Strata
Emergent
Biomass class
Mulch biomass

Environment

Light requirement
Full sun
Water requirement
High
Drought tolerance
Moderate
Waterlogging tolerance
High
Soil pH range
5.5–7.5
Preferred soil texture
Loamy, Clayey
Hardiness zones
10–12
Frost tolerance
-1.0 °C

Morphology

Mature height
30–70 m
Root system
Buttress
Root depth
Shallow
Growth rate
Fast
Lifespan
≥ 200 years

Biomes & climate

Köppen classes

Where it fits in a guild

Kapok tree takes the Emergent stratum in the Climax phase of succession — in a guild it shares the line with species from the other strata, each harvesting light at its own height, in its own time.

Design my guild

Free account — and the catalog stays open, no sign-up needed.

Emergent · ≈70 m High Medium Low Ground cover

🪴 Cultivation

A deciduous, light-demanding tree native to very humid, floodplain (várzea) and seasonally flooded sites throughout the Amazon basin — it sheds its leaves at flowering, tied to the dry season. Enormous plank buttress roots provide stability in shallow, waterlogged soils. Fast growth (120 cm/yr over the first 10 years; up to 2 m/yr in gaps). Deep permeable soil (pH 5.5–7.5); tolerates acid, alkaline and saline soils. Frost-sensitive (killed below ~-1 °C).

📅 Phenology

Flowering months: June, July, August

Fruiting months: September, October, November

❓ Frequently asked questions

How tall does kapok tree grow?

At maturity, kapok tree reaches 30–70 m tall.

When does kapok tree fruit?

Fruiting of kapok tree occurs in September, October, November.

When does kapok tree flower?

Flowering of kapok tree occurs in June, July, August.

What stage and stratum does kapok tree occupy in a syntropic system?

In a syntropic system, kapok tree belongs to the climax stage, occupying the emergent stratum.

Functions

Fiber Timber Ornamental Ritual 🍯 Melliferous

Propagation

Seed, Cutting

Citations

  1. Pasini, F. & Guimarães, L. (2017) — Tabela 3 (Incaper) , p. 116 (primary_stratum)
  2. PFAF Plant Database — Ceiba pentandra (hardiness_zone_min, hardiness_zone_max, frost_tolerance_c, ph_min, ph_max, soil_texture_preference, growth_rate, propagation, root_system)
  3. Embrapa — Sumaúma (Ceiba pentandra), Documentos 41 (waterlogging_tolerance, phenology, cultivation_notes, root_system)
  4. Biologia da Paisagem — Ceiba pentandra (sumaúma) (phenology, waterlogging_tolerance, cultivation_notes)

External references

Continue exploring

Related plants