silk-cotton tree

American  

[silk-kot-n] / ˈsɪlkˌkɒt n /

noun

1. any of several spiny trees belonging to the genus Ceiba, of the bombax family, having palmately compound leaves and seeds surrounded by silk cotton, especially C. pentandra, from which kapok is obtained.

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silk-cotton tree British  

noun

1. Also called: kapok tree.  any of several tropical bombacaceous trees of the genus Ceiba, esp Ceiba pentandra, having seeds covered with silky hairs from which kapok is obtained

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Etymology

Origin of silk-cotton tree

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

The filling is kapok, a soft fiber that comes from a silk-cotton tree.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a nullah that leads down to the Nerbudda river there stood a large silk-cotton tree, where a colony of weaver-birds had built their hanging nests, and lived snugly in them, whatever the weather.

From Hindu literature : Comprising The Book of good counsels, Nala and Damayanti, The Ramayana, and Sakoontala by Arnold, Edwin, Sir

We had just about finished reading our letters when Corny came up to us to the silk-cotton tree, where we were sitting, and said, in a doleful tone: "We've got to go home."

From A Jolly Fellowship by Stockton, Frank Richard

Half way between the American camp and the city there was a beautiful ceiba-tree, or silk-cotton tree, so called from the large seed-pods, full of soft, cotton-like stuff.

From Young Peoples' History of the War with Spain by Holmes, Prescott

A nest on the 17th August, 1880, on the outside branch of a silk-cotton tree in Belgaum about 12 feet from the ground, containing three fresh eggs.

From The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 by Hume, Allan Octavian