Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra)

Family: Malvaceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

A tropical tree native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa, Kapok Tree or Ceiba pentandra is now a widely cultivated in Southeast Asia for its seed fibre. It is fast growing and reaches up to 70 m in height and 3 m in trunk diameter. The trunk is buttressed and large simple thorns, similar to that of on many of the larger branches, are found on it. The crown is thin and pagoda shaped.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Nuts/Seeds, Leaves, Flowers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring

Flavor & Culinary Uses

flavouring. — Edible portion: Seeds, Leaves, Calyces, Flowers, Vegetable, Fruit.; Tender leaves, buds and fruit are mucilaginous and are eaten like okra (Abelmoschus moschatus).; Seed - raw or cooked.; Roasted and ground into a powder, it is eaten in soups and used as a flavouring.

Habitat & North American Range

An emergent tree in various types of moist evergreen and deciduous forests, including those subject to seasonal inundation, as well as in dry forests and gallery forests. As a pioneer species, it mostly occurs in secondary forests. (Zone 10)