There are some plant confusions out there. Here are three, coral tree and kapok, tea and ti, cassia and cinnamon.
Coral tree, ceibo in Spanish, Erythrina crista-galli, is the source of kapok, the cotton-like fluff is produced in the seed pods and used as a mattress filling and similar applications.
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| Coral tree, Erythrina crust-galli, called ceiba in Spanish |
April Fool! There are two trees with nearly identical Spanish names. Coral tree is
ceibo in Spanish,
scientifically
Erythrina crista-galli, in the pea familiy Fabaceae. They are moderate sized trees several native to Central and South America. Kapok is
ceiba in Spanish, with the scientific
name Ceiba pentandra in the mallow or hibiscus family Malvaceae. Native to Central and South Ameria they grow into huge trees. Ceibo is the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay, ceiba is the national tree of Guatemala.
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| kapok, ceiba, Ceiba pentandra. It has just put on leaves in spring, note the pods up among the branches. |
