Ceiba pentandra

Ceiba

Silk-Cotton-tree

Kapok-tree

Family: Bombacaceae

Other Common Names: Fromager (French West Indies), Pochota, Yaxche (Mexico), Bonga, Ceiba de lana (Colombia), Ceiba yuca (Venezuela), Sumauma (Brazil), Toborochi (Bolivia).

Distribution: Throughout the tropical world; from the Tropic of Cancer in Mexico southward through Central America to Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador. Also West Africa and Malay Peninsula. Characteristically an open-grown tree.

The Tree: A very large tree with a height of 150 ft and a diameter of 7 ft above the buttresses, which often are of plank form and wide spreading; the trunk, which is cylindrical or at times thicker in the middle, is smooth or covered with large conical spines.

The Wood:General Characteristics: Heartwood pinkish white to ashy brown when dry and not clearly distinguished from the sapwood. Luster low; grain generally straight, sometimes irregular; texture coarse with a harsh feel; without distinctive odor or taste.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.25; air-dry density 18 pcf.

Mechanical Properties: (2-in. standard)

Moisture content Bending strength Modulus of elasticity Maximum crushing strength

(%) (Psi) (1,000 psi) (Psi)

Green (73) 2,180 410 1,060

12% 4,330 540 2,38015% (34) 3,980 NA 2,490

Janka side hardness 220 lb for green wood and 240 lb for dry. Forest Products Laboratory toughness average for green and dry material is 24 in.-lb (5/8-in. specimen).

Drying and Shrinkage: Air-dries rapidly with little warp or checking; also easy to kiln-dry. Kiln schedule T10-D5S is suggested for 4/4 stock and schedule T8- D4S for 8/4. Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial 2.1%; tangential 4.1%; volumetric 7.7%. Movement in service is rated small.

Working Properties: The wood is easy to machine but not satisfactorily; sawed surfaces are fuzzy; tears the grain in shaping, boring, turning, and mortising, but gives excellent results in planing and sanding. Poor nail- and screw-holding properties. Easy to peel into veneers.

Durability: Laboratory tests indicate nondurable to white-rot fungus attack but durable to very durable when exposed to brown rot. Rated as extremely vulnerable to decay when in ground contact, also very susceptible to insect attack. Logs and lumber often discolored by sap-staining fungi.

Preservation: Easy to treat with good absorption and penetration using either pressure-vacuum systems or open tank methods.

Uses: Plywood, packaging, lumber core stock, light construction, pulp and paper products, also used locally for canoes and rafts. Floss on seeds (kapok) harvested for use in buoys, life belts, stuffing pillows, and similar articles.

Additional Reading: (34), (41), (71), (73)

M 150 282-3Logs are delivered to a sawmill in southern Nigeria. African mahogany

(mostly Khaya ivorensis) is in high demand on overseas markets. Export of logs fro

this region, as well as from most other tropical areas, is being restricted.

M 150 282-2Band mills in Ghana are designed to handle logs 5 feet and more in

diameter. Obeche or Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) logs yield lumber favored for

joinery and millwork.

M 150 273-14In many areas of the tropics, fast-growing species are being introduced

future supplies of fuel wood and industrial wood. Batai (Albizia falcataria) is

a favored plantation species in the Philipines.

M 150 273-13 Shores spp. is still the major timber group harvested in Southeast

Asia. With modern chain saws, fellers no longer need scaffolding to get above larg

buttresses.

M 150 281 Felling of white lauan or almon (Shorea a;mon) with axes in the early

1900s in the Philippines. Most hardwood plywood now imported into the USA is

produced from species of Shorea.

[M 150 273-9Plywood mill in San Jose, Costa Rica, produces rotary-cut veneers mostly from banak (Virola spp.) and crabwood or cedro macho (Carapa guianensis). Logs trucked in from the Caribbean coast.]