Foil silk tree
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Foil silk tree ( Ceiba speciosa ) |
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The foil silk tree ( Ceiba speciosa ) is a type of plant from the genus Ceiba in the subfamily of the wool tree plants (Bombacoideae) within the family of the mallow plants (Malvaceae). It is also called "Chorisie". It is native to South America and is used as an ornamental plant.
description
Vegetative characteristics
The foil silk tree grows as a broad-crowned, fast-growing tree and reaches heights of up to 15 meters. Since the trunk of older trees is sometimes thick, barrel-shaped as a water reservoir for the dry season , his stature has given him the common Spanish names palo borracho (directly translated, for example, "drunken tree") or árbol botella ("bottle tree"). The young trunk is studded with pointed spines that break out of the bark like a wart at the base and become less and less with age. The bark of young trees is green; old trees are gray. Since the trees are often leafless for months in the dry season, they then have a somewhat skeletal appearance.
The alternate leaves are up to 12 cm long and have long stalks. The fingered leaf blades are composed of five to seven, short stalked, pointed and sawn on the edge leaf sections. The leaflets are lanceolate to inverted-lanceolate with pinnate veins . The leaves fall off as protection against evaporation in the dry season.
Generative characteristics
At the time of flowering (in the leafless state) the treetop looks like it is wrapped in a pink cloud of flowers. The handsome, large flowers appear in clusters on short branches and are usually pink to purple in color. The five petals are lightened towards the base of the flower and darkly spotted like a lily. The stamens are connected to a central column up to 8 cm long, which is about as long as the petals and hangs down like a clapper from the flower. The pen with capitate stigma is longer than the stamens and above. The ovary is above and multi-chambered.
The pear- to cone-shaped and cork-like, brownish capsule fruits with a length of up to 20 cm and a diameter of about 5 cm burst when ripe and white, silky fibers swell out. The many brownish seeds are spread by the wind , similar to the poplars with the capsule wadding . A very similar mechanism also exists in the related kapok tree ("cotton tree "). The foil silk tree owes its common German name to these white capsule fibers: foil silk is a simple fiber quality used in silk production that also processes the less high-quality, outer parts of the silk cocoon - the foil .
Dissemination and use
This character tree of the Brazilian semi-arid forests grows in southern Brazil ( Caatinga ) and the adjacent areas ( Gran Chaco ) as far as Argentina . The foil silk tree is often planted as an ornamental plant in tropical to subtropical areas, for example as a park tree in California, and more rarely in Spain and Sicily .
The capsule wadding can be used in a similar way to kapok .
The spongy, light wood was popular with the South American population for building canoes and rafts .
Other common names: English Floss Silk Tree , Spanish Ceiba del Brasil (official name).
gallery
Detail of the young trunk
blossom
Foliage leaves, fruits and flower
Split ripe fruit with the fibers
Ceiba speciosa in bloom
Hairless seeds of Ceiba speciosa
swell
- Werner Grandjot: travel guide through the plant kingdom of the tropics . 2nd Edition. Schroeder, Leichingen near Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-87722-377-X .
- Hugh Johnson et al .: The Great Book of Forests and Trees . Das Beste, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-87070-199-4 .
- Jens G. Rohwer : Plants of the Tropics . BLV, Munich / Vienna / Zurich 2000, ISBN 3-405-15771-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Palo Borracho - Árbol Botella - Chorisia Speciosa - Ceiba Speciosa. Para mi jardin blog, January 6, 2018 (Spanish).
