Kapok

Kapok, scientifically Ceiba pentandra, is a tropical tree native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the northern half of South America, with some authors also considering it native to western and central Africa; it has been widely introduced elsewhere in the tropics, including South and Southeast Asia, where it is cultivated. The tree and the cotton-like fluff obtained from its seed pods are known in English as kapok, a Malay-derived name originally applied to the related Asian species Bombax ceiba, and it is called ceiba in Spanish-speaking countries and fromager in French-speaking ones. It is cultivated for its cotton-like seed fibre, particularly in southeast Asia, and is also known as Java cotton, Java kapok or silk-cotton.