
What does a ceiba tree look like?
Ceiba trees grow in Mexico and Central America, in the tropical areas of South America, a few places in Africa and southeast Asia. These trees can grow from 45ft to 100 ft tall and have a massive trunk with strong outright limbs. The tree canopy …
How old is the ceiba tree in Guatemala?
Due to its extreme height, the kapok, or ceiba tree, towers over the other rainforest vegetation. The ceiba has a thick, buttressed trunk with a high ca... 200 feet A giant in the rainforests, the kapok tree can reach up to 200 feet in height, sometimes growing as much as 13 feet per year.
Where do Ceiba trees grow in Peru?
Jul 15, 2021 · The Ceiba is a rapidly growing deciduous tree that reaches heights of 80 feet or more, and a diameter of five to eight feet above its buttresses. The buttresses themselves can be up to ten feet tall and extend ten feet from the main trunk.
What is the ceiba tree used for?
Nov 11, 2019 · Simply known as la ceiba in Spanish or ya’axche in Yucatec Maya, this tree has huge cultural significance to the Maya both throughout history and today. The noticeable spikes on the trunk protect the tree from predators in the early stages of development and means that these trees can grow up to 70 meters tall with a trunk that can reach a circumference of 5 …
See more
Mar 28, 2019 · The ceiba has a thick, buttressed trunk with a high canopy that can grow up to 70 meters (230 feet) in height. Three versions of the tree are found on our planet: that grown in tropical rainforests is a massive tree with spiny thorns protruding from its trunk.

How fast does a ceiba tree grow?
How tall is a Great kapok tree?
What is the tallest tree in Belize?
Regarded as one of Belize's tallest and most magnificent forest giants, the Big-leaf Mahogany, or simply Mahogany Tree, is the country's national tree. This mighty tree takes 60 to 80 years to mature and grow to heights between 75 to 100 feet, while its large leaves grow to about 17 inches in length.Oct 6, 2016
Is the kapok tree the tallest tree?
Are kapok trees deciduous?
Where do ceiba trees grow?
What does the ceiba tree represent?
What is a Bukut?
What is the tallest tree in South America?
How tall are the Amazon trees?
How many kapok trees are left?
How tall is a Ceiba tree?
The Ceiba is a rapidly growing deciduous tree that reaches heights of 80 feet or more, and a diameter of five to eight feet above its buttresses. The buttresses themselves can be up to ten feet tall ...
What is the largest tree in the tropics?
Silk Cotton Tree. T he Silk Cotton or Ceiba Tree [ Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.] is one of the largest trees in the American tropics. The tree has played an important role in the spiritual and economic lives of the peoples who live in the circum-Caribbean region. The Ceiba is a rapidly growing deciduous tree that reaches heights of 80 feet or more, ...
When do whitish pink flowers bloom?
From December to February the tree produces numerous five-part whitish to pink flowers which occur in dense clusters and bloom before the leaves appear. The tree produces three-to-six-inch long, elliptical fruits. These fruits contain many seeds surrounded by a dense mat of cottony fibers.
How do trees get their name?
The tree gets its common name from these fibers which rain from the tree when the fruits ripen.
What are Kapok fibers used for?
Called Kapok in Asia, the fibers are used for insulation, padding in sleeping bags and life preservers, and for stuffing mattresses and pillows.
What is Kapok used for?
Called Kapok in Asia, the fibers are used for insulation, padding in sleeping bags and life preservers, and for stuffing mattresses and pillows. In Puerto Rico the tree was often planted in the center of plazas for shade, and it is considered a valuable honey tree. Bob Gezon emerges from a cavity in the huge buttress.
What is a dugout canoe made of?
Dugout canoe made from a Ceiba tree, Black River, Jamaica. The Tainos believed that the forest was inhabited by spirits called opías. Opías were the spirits of the dead, and one could identify opías because they lacked navels. They were supposed to come out of the forest at night and feast on guayaba fruit.
Girth records
In this table of girth records worldwide only girth measurements made at a height between 1.30 m and 1.50 m are listed. Trees with multiple trunks are excluded.
Height records
In this table of height records worldwide only height measurements made by laser (like eg. the Nikon 550 Forestry) or tape drop are listed.
Age records
In this table of age estimates and measurements worldwide are shown. Of course this inventory contains only age records as far as they are registered on this site.
How tall is a Ceiba tree?
The ceiba has a thick, buttressed trunk with a high canopy that can grow up to 70 meters (230 feet) in height.
Where is the Ceiba tree?
The Ceiba tree ( Ceiba pentandra and also known as the kapok or silk-cotton tree) is a tropical tree native to North and South America and Africa. In Central America, the ceiba had great symbolic importance to the ancient Maya, and its name in the Mayan language is Yax Che (“Green Tree” or “First Tree”).
How big is a spruce tree?
It grows rapidly as a young tree, between to 2-4 m (6.5-13 ft) each year. Its trunk is up to 3 m (10 ft) wide and it has no lower branches: instead, the branches are bunched at the top with an umbrella-like canopy.
What is the world tree?
The World Tree in Maya Mythology. Reproduction of the World Tree pages in the Madrid Codex (Tro-Cortesianus), in the Museo de América in Madrid. The ceiba was the most sacred tree for the ancient Maya, and according to Maya mythology, it was the symbol of the universe. The tree signified a route of communication between the three levels of earth.
What does the image above represent?
The highly stylized image above is from the Madrid Codex, and scholars have suggested that it represents an architectural feature meant to symbolize a tree.
What is a ceriba tree?
The genus Ceiba consists of 10 species of large tropical trees in the family Malvaceae (formerly in theBombacaceae), which also includes the "baobab" trees of Africa (genus Adansonia). Ceiba trees are typically emergent, meaning their large umbrella-shaped canopies emerge above the forest canopy. They are thus among the tallest trees in the tropical forest reaching as high as 60 m in rainforests of the Amazon. Their thick columnar trunks often have large buttresses. Young trunks and branches are armed with thick conical spines, and are often green due to photosynthetic pigments. The leaves are alternate and palmately compound, with 5-8 entire-margined leaflets. The radially symmetrical flowers can be rather small and inconspicuous (e.g., ~3 cm in Ceiba pentandra) to large (>12 cm) and showy. They are usually white, pinkish-white or red, and leathery. The flowers have 5 stamens fused into a tube at the base. Ceiba fruits are large ellipsoid capsules up to 20 cm long, with 5 woody valves that split open to reveal abundant fluff, or kapok, in which the many small black-brown seeds are embedded. The kapok fibers are not attached to the seeds. The fibers are 1.5 - 3 cm long and are covered with a waxy substance that aids in their water-repellancy.
Where do celeba trees grow?
Ceiba trees grow in both wet evergreen and dry semi-deciduous tropical forests. Ceiba pentandra is native throughout the American tropics, from Mexico through Central America and south to Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, as well as in West Africa. All other members of the genus only occur in the neotropics. Ceiba trichistandra is found in drier forests of the Pacific coast of Ecuador and Peru. Ceiba pentandra has been transported to other regions of the tropics by humans and is even planted in warm temperate zones as a novelty tree.
How tall is a Ceiba tree?
These trees can grow from 45ft to 100 ft tall and have a massive trunk with strong outright limbs. The tree canopy is umbrella shaped and resistant to hurricanes. The Ceiba tree is also know as the Kapok tree and Silk floss tree. In Mayan it is known as the Yaxche.
Where do Ceiba trees grow?
Not only is it respected by ancient peoples including the Mayans but also by observers of these massive trees and the unique products made from the Ceiba. Ceiba trees grow in Mexico and Central America, in the tropical areas of South America, a few places in Africa and southeast Asia. These trees can grow from 45ft to 100 ft tall ...
Why are celeba trees sacred?
Mayans hold the Ceiba tree to be sacred. It is believed that the souls of the dead ascend to the top of the trees to go to heaven. It was also a connection between all three worlds, the underworld, earth and heaven. Today you can find Ceiba trees planted near cemeteries and at the center of religious ceremonies.
Why do trees have spikes?
When the tree is young it has not fully developed its roots system and having spikes prevents animals from damaging the semi-delicate developing trees. Eventually the thorns fall off the tree. When these trees mature they have a massive root system including what looks like buttresses that brace the tree.
