<p><b>Ceiba is the National Tree of Guatemala and Puerto Rico.</b>
</p><p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Bombacaceae">Bombacaceae</a> (baobab family) » <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Ceibapentandra&amp;w=91314344@N00&amp;m=tags">Ceiba pentandra</a></i>
</p><p><b>SAY-buh</b> -- Latinized form of the South American name for this tree
<b>pen-TAN-druh</b> -- meaning, five stamens
</p><p><b>commonly known as</b>: true kapok tree, white silk cotton tree • <b>Bengali</b>: schwetsimul • <b>Hindi</b>: सफेद सावरा safed savara, सफेद सेमुल safed semul • <b>Marathi</b>: सफेत सावरा safeta savara • <b>Sanskrit</b>: श्वेत शालमली shweta shalmali • <b>Tamil</b>: பஞ்சித்தணக்கு panji tannaku, ல்மலி shalmali • <b>Telugu</b>: తెల్ల బూరుగ tella buruga • <b>Urdu</b>: sambal
</p><p><b>Origin</b>: Tropical America
</p><p><i>Ceiba</i> is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central and South America, The Bahamas, the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia.
</p><p>Some species can grow to 70 meters tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and "buttress" roots that can be taller than a grown man.
</p><p>The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is the Kapok, <i>Ceiba pentandra</i>.
</p>
<b>References</b>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53514/index.html">Dave's Garden</a> • <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://zipcodezoo.com/plants/c/ceiba_pentandra.asp">Zipcode Zoo</a> • <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mytho-fleurs.com/images/Fleurs_du_Vietnam/fleurs_du_Vietnam_2/Ceiba_pentandra.jpg">Mytho-Fleurs</a> • <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Ceiba.html">M.M.N.P.D.</a>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/91314344@N00">Dinesh Valke</a> from Thane, India
CC BY-SA 2.0
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinesh_valke/349224333/">Kapok tree (Spanish: Arbol capoc)</a>