Mu Mian Hua

Bombax ceiba L. (Malvaceae), commonly known as the red silk cotton tree or kapok, is a large deciduous tree reaching 25-40 m in height, with a buttressed trunk armed with conical prickles when young. The bark is grey, and branches are arranged in horizontal whorls. Leaves are palmately compound with 5-7 lanceolate to elliptic leaflets, each 10-20 cm long, with entire margins and acuminate tips. The striking flowers appear before the leaves in late winter to early spring, are solitary or clustered at branch tips, and possess five thick, fleshy, recurved red to orange-red petals 8-15 cm long surrounding a dense brush of numerous stamens. The fruit is an oblong woody capsule that splits to release seeds embedded in abundant silky white floss. Native to tropical Asia, it is widely distributed in southern China, India, and Southeast Asia.