kapoktree
Ceiba pentandra · Bombacaceae
kapoktree (Ceiba pentandra) is a perennial shrub in the Bombacaceae family. It is introduced to North America rather than native. USDA records it as hardy in zone 11 and warmer, down to about 40°F.
At a glance
| Type | shrub USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | perennial USDA |
| Native status | introduced USDA |
| Mature height | 150 ft USDA |
| Growth rate | rapid USDA |
| Bloom | December–February USDA |
| Flower color | White USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 11 and warmer USDA |
| Guild layer | shrub Derived |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
Its cold limit is zone 11; USDA publishes no warm-end limit, so gardeners in warmer zones should check local heat tolerance separately.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 150 ft, making it a large tree that will dominate its site. It grows quickly, which matters when you are timing a planting around the layers above it.
Bloom period
USDA records a bloom period of December through February. The flower color USDA records is white. Bloom timing is how the Guild Builder overlaps flowering across a planting so something is in flower for as much of the season as possible.
Bloom period is a claim about when this plant flowers. It is deliberately not a pollinator rating — no dataset we trust publishes one, so we do not make that claim. See Data & sources.
Role in a guild
Shrub layer. In a layered planting this is woody mid-level structure between the understory and the ground. We derive the layer from the plant's growth habit and mature height using a fixed rule, so the same inputs always produce the same layer.
Tags
Related plants
Similar role and hardiness
- wild cinnamon Canella winterana
- tietongue Coccoloba diversifolia
- common calabash tree Crescentia cujete
- fragrant dracaena Dracaena fragrans
- Spanish thyme Lippia micromera
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol CEPE2, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
bloom_end— quoted from USDA PLANTSbloom_start— quoted from USDA PLANTSduration— quoted from USDA PLANTSflower_color— quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_habit— quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_rate— quoted from USDA PLANTSguild_role— derived by rule from USDA columnsmature_height_ft— quoted from USDA PLANTSnative_status— quoted from USDA PLANTSnitrogen_fixer— quoted from USDA PLANTStemperature_min_f— quoted from USDA PLANTSzone_min— quoted from USDA PLANTS
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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