By Lynn Kaak
Every month in the Caribbean there’s something special to look out for. What is that behemoth of a tree that produces delicate seed-carrying fluff almost lighter than air?
Ceiba pentandra is a native of Central America, the Caribbean Basin and northern South America. The ceiba — the original indigenous name, and the one adopted by the Spanish — kapok, or silk cotton tree is also found in West Africa (as the variety C. pentandra var guineensis).
Among the world’s biggest trees, the ceiba is truly massive, with some reaching heights of about 77 metres (250 feet). The buttressed roots, attaining a height of 12 to 15 metres (40 to 50 feet) and a suitable width of about 20 metres (265 feet), support a trunk that can be three to six metres (ten to 20 feet) in diameter. The wide canopy that crowns this giant of the forest can easily get to 60 metres (200 feet) in diameter. These fast-growing trees can have a long life, with trees over two centuries old still casting their enormous shadows on those below. They can be found in almost any tropical area, and can handle areas with seasonal rainy and dry seasons, or regions with more regular precipitation. They flourish in secondary forests.
Ceiba trees were useful to the indigenous peoples of the region long before Columbus appeared. The huge trunks were used to make dugout canoes that could carry up to 100 people. The wood is very light and easy to work, but since it is also susceptible to rot, today it isn’t used for many other purposes other than making cricket bats and coffins.
The fluffy “cotton” has been used for filling for mattresses, cushions, and eventually life jackets, even into modern times. Synthetics have since taken over the majority of commercial applications.
The cotton that the trees are so well known for comes from sturdy seedpods that are about 15 centimetres (six inches) long, starting as a pale green and drying to a brown husk. They pop open to reveal a white or light-yellowish fiber that is the medium for the small seeds to travel; it is easily blown in the wind. The mostly cellulose fibers are light, water resistant, and very flammable. With 200 to 400 pods produced by one tree, that is a lot of fluff!
The small pink and white flowers bloom at night, giving off a foul scent that attracts bats. Bats are the main pollinators, but the flowers are also useful for honey producers.
Ceiba trees often have large conical thorns growing from their trunks and branches. The leaves somewhat resemble those of marijuana and all are dropped from the tree just before the seedpods mature. The tree has the remarkable ability to refoliate in just a day or two.
In indigenous folklore ceiba trees are known as the home of spirits, and have played a part in more recent times with links to the practice of Obeah. There are some who still feel that these trees should not be grown close to a house as the evil spirits will be too close to the inhabitants and may adversely affect their lives. On the other hand, some indigenous people in Suriname say that if you are lost in the rainforest and sleep under one of these trees, no danger will befall you in the night.
A “jumbie tree” in Tobago had been part of that island’s tradition since preColumbian times, when the first peoples believed that spirits resided in this colossus of the forest. Ancient potsherds and more modern artifacts have been found around its roots, indicating that it has been a place of devotion and/or propitiation.
According to legend, Gang Gang Sarah, a West African witch who had been blown off course, climbed another silk cotton tree in Tobago and tried to fly back to Africa. She
forgot that because she had eaten salt she could no longer fly, and fell to her death. For many years the tree from which she fell bore a sign saying, “This silk cotton tree
was considered sacred by the African slaves who believed the spirits of their ancestors lived in its branches. Obeah men from all parts of the island came here to perform black magic rituals, the most famous being Bobby Quashie of Culloden. This tree is the largest of its kind on the island and is well known for its many legends, spanning over 150 years.”
