Pseudobombax ellipticum (forma alba)
[Bombax ellipticum]
[ Malvaceae ]
[ Central America ]
Pseudobombax ellipticum, best known as Bombax ellipticum, is a fabulously attractive fast-growing deciduous tree with a smooth caudiciform trunk, green and marbled with gray. It can reach 18 m in height, but usually much smaller to shrublike in tropical gardens. The new branches are light green. This species is known for its unique brush-like white or pink flowers of 15 to 20 cm in diameter in the form of brush. New leaves are a quite attractive deep maroon colour and turn a fine green as they get older. The fruit, an elongated dehiscent capsule 15-25 cm long and 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter, contains a fluffy fiber around the seeds. This is an attractive shade tree suitable for bonsai as well.