Bombax ceiba, Bombax malabaricum, Bombax septenatum.

Bombax ceiba Linn. Malvaceae. God-Tree. Silk-Cotton Tree.

South America. The leaves and buds, when young and tender, are very mucilaginous, like okra, and are boiled as greens by the negroes of Jamaica. The fleshy petals of the flowers are sometimes prepared as food by the Chinese. The tree is called god-tree in the West Indies, where it is native.

Bombax malabaricum DC. Cotton Tree.

East Indies, Malay and China. The calyx of the flower-bud is eaten as a vegetable.

Bombax septenatum Jacq.

Tropical America. The plant furnishes a green vegetable.


Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.