Barrigon kapoktree

Pseudobombax septenatum, commonly known as the barrigon kapoktree, is a deciduous tropical tree in the family Malvaceae native to Central America and northern South America. It grows 15 to 30 meters tall with a smooth, green photosynthetic trunk that is often swollen at the base, a feature reflected in the name 'barrigon' (pot-bellied). The bark is greenish to grayish, marked with vertical striations and pale lenticels. Leaves are palmately compound with five to seven leaflets that drop in the dry season. Large showy white flowers open at night, with numerous long stamens forming a brush-like display, and are pollinated by bats. The fruit is an oblong woody capsule that splits open to release small dark seeds embedded in copious silky white kapok fibers. The tree commonly occurs in seasonally dry tropical forest from Mexico south to Colombia and Venezuela.