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The Famous Kapok Tree from Indonesia

May 21, 2018

The scientific named Ceiba pentandra tree is from America. In Indonesia, this tree is grown as a producer of kapok. Kapok is used for filler pillows and mattresses.

Morphology

Randu or kapuk (Ceiba pentandra L.) is a tropical tree that is widely grown in Asia. Kapok is a tree that aborted flowers with a tree height of 8-30 m and can have a tree trunk large enough to reach 3 m diameter. In the trunk there are large conical spikes that are cone-shaped. The leaves are long-stemmed and spelled out 5-9. Flowers accumulate in the armpits of leaves that have fallen (near the tip of the branch). Petals bell-shaped, notched short with 1-2 cm high. The crown of oval crown is inverted and elongated with a length of 2.5-4 cm. 5 threads, united into a short tube shape, and have a twisted head of the cider. Will bear fruit 5 with a fairly large seeds. The kapok tree has an elongated shape of 7.5-15 cm long, hanging, hard and green when it is young and brown when it is old. In the fruit there are seeds surrounded by fine feathers, yellowish fiber which is a mixture of lignin and cellulose. The shape of the seeds round, small, and black (Setiadi, 1983).

 

Classification
Scientific classification of herbs (Ceiba pentandra L.) based on its taxonomy (Lanting and Palaypoyan, 2002):

Kingdom                : Plantae

Division                  : Magnoliophyta

Subdivision             : Spermatophyta

Class                      : Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales

Family                    : Malvaceae Genus: Ceiba

Species                   : Ceiba pentandra L.

 

In the early years of the 1900s, kapok from Indonesia, especially from the island of Java is very famous. The kapok trees are planted everywhere. Kapok from Indonesia is sold abroad. Kapok is also known by the name of “Java cotton”.
Currently not many people are choosing a cotton mattress. There are many more comfortable mattress options, such as foam mattresses and per-use mattresses. As a result, kapok is no longer as important as it used to be. Many are cutting down the kapok trees because they do not make much money. The number of cotton trees grew less and less.
 
Actually the kapok tree has many benefits, lo. Trees that can grow up to 70 meters is reliable as a retaining ground from erosion, so it can help prevent floods and landslides. Randu is also used as a buffer for pepper plants. Besides taken its kapok (cotton filled inside), other parts that are used, among others, roots, leaves, and young fruit. Root stew water is believed to have medicinal properties. Similarly, boiled water leaves. Young fruit can be eaten as fresh vegetables. The young leaf is also edible and contains calcium.
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