5024.000 Bombax L.

Description of the genus

Trees, sometimes spiny. Leaves digitate with 5-7 leaflets. Flowers large (c. 5 cm or more long) solitary or in short cymes or clusters. Calyx truncate or shortly lobed. Petals 5. Stamens numerous. Ovary 5-locular with many ovules per loculus. Fruit dehiscent, a 5-lobed woody capsule, full of silky hairs containing the seeds.

Derivation of name: from the Greek bombyx, meaning silk, referring to the silky hairs surrounding the seeds.

Comment: There appears to be considerable uncertainty regarding the species delimitations in Bombax. While some sources have synonomized B. stolzii and B. mossambicense under B. rhodognaphalum or even have all three names under Rhodognaphalum schumannianum (See African Plants Database), other sources still maintain these as separate species and in Rhodognaphalon (See Plantlist). Until we have more confirmation we still regard Bombax rhodognaphalon as the accepted name and as the only taxon present in Malawi.

Worldwide: 20 species in the Old World tropics

Malawi: 1 taxon.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
rhodognaphalon K. Schum.SDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Bombax:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: Bombax
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Bombax

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Bombax
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Bombax
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Bombax
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Bombax
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Bombax
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Bombax
JSTOR Plant Science: Bombax
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Bombax
Plants of the World Online: Bombax
Tropicos: Bombax
Wikipedia: Bombax

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Bombax.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1704, retrieved 29 March 2024

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