Thanks so much,

Frank

Marcelo

I have read they are deciduous and tend to go dormant in the winter. Mine certainly lost all it's leaves last winter when I got it, although I first attributed it to the shock of shipping.

I jsut visited that tree about a month ago. That is an incredible specimen. There is another almost as large somewhere in Palm Beach in a private garden.

Eric
Olando,FL z9b/10a

Anyhow, I would be really curious as to when this tree was planted. I figure it has to be at least a century old.

Marcelo

Ceiba or Yaaxché in Mayan
Ceiba pentandra
Familiy: Bombacaceae
Guatemala’s national tree is the Ceiba, also known as kapok or silk cotton tree. A tall, stately tree that spreads its limbs at the top of the forest canopy, its downy fibers are used to this day to stuff pillows and cushions. The ceiba’s most important role in many Guatemala communities, however, is to shade the main plaza with its leafy, long-reaching branches. This tradition goes back many centuries, to the days when the ancient Maya cultivated ceibas in the plazas of their cities. In some of Guatemala’s famous Maya ruins, these trees (or their descendants) still tower as high as 100 feet or more over what is left of these long-abandoned communities. A ceiba is an ecosystem in itself, since its clefts and branches (up to 150 feet across) are populated by many species of orchids, ferns, cacti, and bromeliads. Iguanas and other reptiles like to bask in the sun in its highest branches. The fruits of this tree are big, hard, long capsules which contain cotton fibers. The Ceiba has many uses, such as in traditional medicine, kapok fiber, oil and even human feed. The Ceiba grows easily up to 70 mts. tall. It is a cylindrical and straight tree, with leaves that look like fingers. Its bark is grey-rose and smooth.

This tree grows in humid and semi humid forest, it thrives at an altitude of 0-500 meters above sea level, and at temperatures between 20ºC to 30ºC. It grows naturally from Mexico throughout all of Central America and Brazil.