The kapok tree is an emergent tree of the tropical rainforests and is commonly described as majestic. It will probably develop to a top of 150 toes or extra, towering over different timber within the rainforest. Initially a local to South America it now has unfolded to the first rainforests of West Africa and Southeast Asia. The straight trunks are cylindrical, easy, and grey in coloration, and might attain a diameter of 9 toes. The wooden is a pinkish white to ashy brown in coloration, with a straight grain.
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The branches develop in horizontal tiers and unfold broadly. The crown has an open umbrella form. Many crops and animals develop and reside within the branches of the kapok tree. Birds nest in it, and mammals use the large branches as highways. Frogs breed within the swimming pools of water that accumulate within the bromeliads. The leaves are palmate and compound. The 5-9 leaflets are 7-Eight cm lengthy and 1-3.5 cm large.
Flowers often open earlier than the leaves seem, and are clustered on small, new branches. The 5 petals of a flower are about 2.5 cm lengthy and are a creamy white or pale pink in coloration. Their odor is disagreeable however might be meant to draw the bats that pollinate them. The brown seeds are spherical like peas and are present in pods.
Cultivation Particulars
Kapok tree: It’s discovered at altitudes of as much as 1,200 meters, though productiveness begins to say no above 460 meters. It grows greatest in areas the place annual daytime temperatures are inside 17 – 38 ° c however can tolerate 12 – 40 ° c. It may be killed with a temperature of -1 ° c or much less.
If the nighttime temperature falls under 20 ° C, fruiting can happen. It prioritizes common annual rainfall within the vary of 1,500 – 2,500 mm, however, tolerates 750 – 5,700 mm, 793. It will probably tolerate a chronic dry season of zero to six months. The tree is believed to have originated in Central America however is now positioned between 16 ° North and 16 ° South. Kapok is the biggest native tree rising in Africa.
A fertile, deep, moisture-rich, however well-drained loam prefers a sunny place within the soil. Prioritizes a pH within the vary 5.5 – 6.5, tolerating 5 – 7.5. Prevents shelter circumstances from sturdy winds. A quick-growing tree, the annual enhance in top and diameter throughout the first 10 years is 120 cm and three – Four cm respectively.
The rise in forest interval top might be 2 m per 12 months. The tree can start to tolerate seeds, and therefore fiber, from 4 – 5 years of age, yields can enhance to about Eight years. The financial lifetime of crops is about 60 years.
The leaf and flowering durations are extra common within the drier components of the distribution space, within the moister areas, the leaf and flowering durations are extremely irregular. The flowers open in the evening and are censored within the afternoon. They emit a strong odor and secrete nectar on the base of huge, unisexual flowers. Flowers come 80 – 100 days after ripening, leaving a weird sort of kapok with unfastened air seeds.
A single tree can produce 300 kg – 400 pods, as much as 20 kg of fiber per 12 months from the age of 5 to 50 years.
The tree responds properly to copulation. Bushes have vigorous roots and if planted too shut they injury buildings and roads.
Kapok is believed to be a pure hybrid between two varieties native to tropical America and West Africa. Mild seeds are broadly propagated and discover splendid circumstances for germination in deserted agricultural land.
Edible Makes use of
Kapok tree: Tender leaves, buds, and fruit are mucilaginous and are eaten like okra. Seed – uncooked or cooked. Roasted and floor right into a powder, it’s eaten in soups and used as a flavoring. The seed will be sprouted and eaten uncooked or cooked in soups and many others. One report says that the seed is poisonous.
A pleasing tasting cooking oil is extracted from the seed. Though the seed is poisonous, the oil is edible. Flowers – blanched and eaten with chili sauce. The dried stamens are added to curries and sizzling, bitter soup for coloring. The wooden ashes are used as a salt substitute.
Medicinal
Kapok tree: Kapok is an astringent, diuretic herb that lowers fevers, relaxes spasms, and controls bleeding. The leaves include a number of lively compounds together with derivatives of quercetin and kaempferol, tannins, and caffeic acid. The leaves are abortifacient, alterative, emollient, laxative, and sedative. They’re used within the remedy of scabies, diarrhea, coughs, hoarse throats, fatigue, and lumbago.
A decoction of the tender shoots is used as a contraceptive. Younger leaves are warmed and blended with palm oil to be eaten as a treatment for coronary heart issues. The leaf sap is drunk as a treatment for psychological sickness. The juice from bruised younger branches is utilized in preparation to deal with bronchial asthma.
Utilized externally, the pounded leaves are used as a dressing on sores, sprains, tumors, abscesses, whitlows, and many others. The leaf sap is utilized to pores and skin infections. Leaf macerations are utilized in baths as a remedy towards basic fatigue, fevers, stiffness of the limbs, headache, and bleeding of pregnant ladies. They’re used as an eye-bath to deal with conjunctivitis, take away international our bodies from the attention, and assist heal wounds within the eye.
The leaves will be picked at any time throughout the rising season and are used both contemporary or dried. The bark and the leaves are used within the remedy of bronchial congestion. Externally, they’re utilized in baths to deal with fevers and complications. The foundation and stem barks are credited with emetic and antispasmodic properties.
A decoction of the stem bark is taken to deal with abdomen issues, diarrhea, hernia, gonorrhea, coronary heart hassle, edema, fever, bronchial asthma, and rickets. Macerations of the bark are stated to be a treatment for coronary heart hassle and hypertension and are credited with stimulant and anthelmintic properties.
Stem bark decoctions are utilized in mouthwashes for treating toothache and mouth issues, they’re additionally utilized on swollen fingers, wounds, sores, furuncles, and leprous macules. The bark, typically as a powder, is used as a remedy on wounds. A decoction of the bark is used as a wash to deal with fevers. The bark is often harvested within the dry season.
The gum is abortifacient and astringent. It’s eaten to alleviate the abdomen upset. It is usually taken internally to manage irregular uterine bleeding, dysentery, and diarrhea in kids. The gum is harvested from incisions made into the trunk of younger timber, made because the sap is rising on the finish of the dry season.
A decoction of the boiled roots is used to deal with edema, diarrhea, dysentery, dysmenorrhoea, and hypertension. The decoction can also be stated to be oxytocic. The foundation kinds a part of preparations that might be used to deal with leprosy. The flowers are emollient. They’re used as a treatment for constipation. The fruit is emollient. The powdered fruit is taken with water as a treatment for intestinal parasites and stomach-ache.
The seed floss is used for cleansing wounds. The seed oil is rubbed into affected areas to alleviate rheumatism and can also be utilized to heal wounds.
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Different Makes use of
Kapok tree: The fiber from the internal wall of the fruit is exclusive in that it combines springiness and resilience and is immune to vermin, to make it splendid for stuffing pillows, mattresses, and cushions; it’s indispensable in hospitals since mattresses will be dry sterilized without shedding their unique high quality. It’s gentle, water repellent, and buoyant, making it splendid for all times jackets, lifeboats, and different naval security equipment.
It is a superb thermal insulator, being utilized in iceboxes, fridges, cold-storage crops, workplaces, theatres, and airplanes. It is usually an excellent sound absorber and is broadly used for acoustic insulation. The seed accommodates 20-25% non-drying oil, much like cottonseed oil. It’s used as a lubricant, illuminant, in cleaning soap manufacturing, and in cooking. The principle fatty acids are palmitic acid (10 – 16%), stearic acid (2 – 9%), oleic acid (49 – 53%), and linoleic acid (26 – 29%).
The ash of the wooden is wealthy in potash and can be utilized in making cleaning soap. The bark is used for making hut partitions and doorways. A gum and a reddish-brown dye are obtained from the bark.
The heartwood is variable in coloration, from creamy white to gentle brown, typically with greyish veins, however, sap-staining fungi could darken it; it’s not clearly demarcated from the sapwood. The grain is interlocked, generally irregular; the feel coarse; progress rings are outstanding; the silica content material is low. The wooden is comfortable, weak, and really gentle in weight; this can be very susceptible to decay when involved with the soil and can also be inclined to termites.
Each log and lumber are very inclined to insect and fungal assault, however, preservation remedy is straightforward. The wooden seasons usually, with solely a slight danger of checking or distortion; as soon as dry it’s poorly to reasonably secure in service. It machines simply however not satisfactorily, leaving surfaces fuzzy – instruments ought to be saved very sharp, nailing and screwing are poor; gluing is appropriate.
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The wooden is straightforward to peel for the veneer. A low-quality timber, the reported makes use of the wooden embrace plywood, packaging, lumber core inventory, gentle development, bins and crates, low-cost furnishings, matches, pulp, and paper merchandise. Historically, it’s used for canoes, rafts, and farm implements. Though it has been recorded for use for gas, it’s not thought-about very appropriate for this objective as a result of it solely smolders.
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