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

The red cotton, or silk-cotton, tree, when in spring covered with its huge magnolia-shaped scarlet blossoms, is one of the most magnificent objects in nature.

From Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official by Sleeman, William

Round the butt-end is wound a little mass from the silk-cotton tree, which exactly fits into the bore of the blow-pipe.

From On the Banks of the Amazon by Groome, William H. C.

Kapok, ka-pok′, n. a cottony or silky fibre covering the seeds of a species of silk-cotton tree, used for stuffing pillows, &c.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

That afternoon, we had a meeting up in the silk-cotton tree, and Priscilla, who had sold out her small stock of flowers in the hotel-door market, was requested to be present.

From A Jolly Fellowship by Stockton, Frank Richard