Red Silk-Cotton
Saw it first in Lalbagh in Bangalore. This majestic tree has beautiful red flowers and attractive bark. It sheds its leaves briefly before flowering, so that the flowers appear on bare branches, all the more dramatic against the sky.
Genus name comes from the Greek word bombyx meaning silk in reference to the silky hairs in the seed capsule. (I had wrongly assumed the genus was named after Bombay by some Brit who found it first in India).
Related species, often ambiguously called silk-cotton or kapok both of which may also refer to Ceiba pentandra.
| Botanical name | Bombax ceiba |
| English names | Red silk-cotton, Malabar silk-cotton tree, red cotton tree |
| Nederlandse naam | Rode katoenboom, zijdekatoenboom, Simal, Kapok, Bombax malabaricum |
| Indian names | Hindi: Shaalmali, Samel |
Characteristics
| Native habitat | Tropical Asia, Indian sub-continent | |||
| Plant Type | large, deciduous tree | |||
| Bloom time | Jan, Feb, Mar | Fall color | ||
| Fruit | a woody capsule, cylindrical enclosing seeds covered in silky fibre | |||
| Uses | ||||
Special notes
The trunk is massive on mature trees, with a prominent buttress at the base. In young trees, cone-shaped spines typically cover the trunk and branches, but the spines become less prominent as the trees mature.
Multiple uses: Textiles, Pillows, Cooking, Medicine
The white fluffy fibres are carded into thread and woven into textiles in Nepal and India. In North India, the fibers are also used in pillows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombax_ceiba#Uses
The flower buds and the calyx of flowers that are not in full bloom are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Locally known as “Marathi Moggu,” these flowers buds are not only used as a spice in the regional cuisines of Southern India but is also used in herbal medicine. The bark is employed against cholera and a decoction of the shoots can be used to treat ulcers of the palate.
https://wcc.edu.in/bombax-ceiba/
There is a story around the cotton silk flowers. The flowers look so beautiful and enticing, and yet, the minute you touch them they fall away. It is compared to the enticing things in life to point out how fleeting they are.
The samel tree flowers have brought home the learning that ‘there is nothing there‘ to people who have transformed their lives from the materialistic to the spiritual.The silk cotton is also referred to in mystic poet Kabir’s works as well as several saints from the Bhakti period.
A friend of mine looking through this site shared this about the silk-cotton being used in spiritual analogies
कबीरा यह संसार है, जैसा सेमल फूल |
दिन दस के व्यवहार में, झूठे रंग न भूल ||
Transliteration:
Kabira yeh sansaar hai, jaisa semal phool;
Din dus ke vyav-haar mein, jhoote rang na bhool!Literal translation:
Kabira [says] this world is like the semal flower,
An affair of ten days, don’t forget its false colors!
Interpretation of ‘affair of ten days’ – meaning just a few days, or fleeting, in this context.
http://kabirassociationoftoronto.org/sakhis/ • https://santkabirdas.blogspot.com/2012/06/kabira-yeh-sansar-hai-jaisa-semal-phool.html