Scientific name: Ceiba pubiflora (A.St.-Hil.) K.Schum.

Family: Malvaceae

Common name: Pubiflora Silk-Cotton Tree, Silk Floss Tree

This is a large tree, over 20 m tall, with a very distinctive trunk due to its bottle shape and covered with thorns. It has greenish grooves and, as it is deciduous, when it loses its leaves, the trunk can perform photosynthesis. In La Concepción, there is a specimen next to the Triton pond.

The leaves of this palo borracho tree are palmate, usually with five leaflets. Flowering occurs in autumn, later than in other ceiba trees. Trees of this genus have striking flowers; in the case of C. pubiflora, they are pink with reddish streaks. The five stamens are arched and free, which differs from the more common Ceiba speciosa, which has them joined in a tube. The fruit is a five-valved capsule with hairs that look like cotton, and the seeds are dispersed by the wind.

The petals of the flowers have hairs on their outer surface, which gives the species its name: pubiflora means ‘pubescent flowers’. The genus name, Ceiba, is the South American vernacular name for these trees. The species is native to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, where the fruits are used to stuff cushions and pillows.

Plant names are often changed, but not on a whim. Previously, the current ceiba trees were included in the Chorisia genus, and they have also changed families; they were previously in the Bombacaceae family and are now in the Malvaceae family. It is important to remember that plants were originally grouped into families and genera according to their physical characteristics, and given their names accordingly. But now, much more advanced techniques than simple morphological observations are used, such as genetic or protein studies, which determine which botanical group they are evolutionarily related to. An international taxonomy committee checks the studies and reviews, and based on them, determines which group they should be in.