SimplePlant

Malvaceae

Kapok

Bombax ceiba L.

Family
Malvaceae
Genus
Bombax

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Kapok (Bombax ceiba)
FlowerPhoto: Utain Pummarin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (37)
Arabic
بمبكس
Assamese
শিমলু
ban
Kutuh
Bangla
লাল শিমুল
bo
གེ་སར་
Burmese
လက်ပံပင်
Cantonese
木棉, 木棉花, 紅棉, 英雄樹
Chinese
木棉, 攀枝花, 红棉, 英雄树, 木棉根, 木棉皮, 木棉花, 木棉花瓣
Dutch
Indische kapokboom
English
Kapok, Red silk cottontree, Cotton tree, Tree cotton
Esperanto
Hinda bombako
Filipino
Malabulak, Buboy-gubat
Finnish
Valkokapokkio, Valkokapokkipuu
German
Stachelzeder
Gujarati
લાલ શાલ્મલી, લાલ શીમળો, લાલ શેમળો, શીમળો, શેમળો
Hebrew
בומבק צייבה
Indonesian
Randu alas
Japanese
キワタ
Javanese
Randhu alas
Korean
봄백스 세이바
lah
سمبل
Malay
Pokok Randu Alas
Malayalam
ഇലവ്, മുള്ളിലം
nan
Ka-pòa-chhiū
Persian
درخت پنجه
Polish
Wełniak azjatycki
Portuguese
Paineira-vermelha-da-índia
Punjabi
ਸਿੰਬਲ, ਸਿੰਬਲ ਰੁੱਖ, ਸਿੰਮਲ
Russian
Бомбакс капоковый, Бомбакс сейба, Бомбакс хлопковый, Хлопковое дерево
shn
မႆႉၼိဝ်ႉ, တူၼ်ႈၼိဝ်ႉ
Spanish
Cedro espino
szy
Nipaluma-kupa a kilang
Tamil
இலவம், இலவு, காட்டு இலவு, மலை இலவம், மலை இலவு, முள் இலவம், முள் இலவு
Telugu
బూరుగ
Thai
งิ้ว
Vietnamese
Gạo
za
Gomoegmienz

Synonyms

  • Bombacopsis quinata (Jacq.) Dugand
  • Bombax aculeatum L.
  • Bombax ceiba var. leiocarpum Robyns
  • Bombax heptaphyllum Cav.
  • Bombax malabaricum DC.
  • Bombax quinatum Jacq.
  • Bombax thorelii Gagnep.
  • Bombax tussacii Urb.
  • Gossampinus malabarica (DC.) Merr.
  • Gossampinus rubra Buch.-Ham.
  • Gossampinus thorelii (Gagnep.) Bakh.
  • Melaleuca grandiflora Blanco
  • Pachira quinata W.S.Alverson
  • Pochota quinata (Jacq.) W.D.Stevens
  • Salmalia malabarica (DC.) Schott & Endl.

Flowers

In flower
January to March (from 260 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Photos

More in Bombax

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.