Chorisia insignis

Scientific Name: Chorisia insignis (kor-es-ea in-sig-nis)
Common Name(s): silk floss tree, kapok, palo borracho, drunk tree, horn toad tree

Landscape Characteristics

Salt Tolerance:
Drought Tolerance:
Soil Requirements:
Light Requirements:
Nutritional Requirements:
Uses:
Propagation:
Human Hazards: Big thorns all around the trunk
Major Pest Problems:
Major Disease or Physiological Problems:

Morphology (Identifying Characteristics)

Habit:
Trunk or Stem Characteristics: The green trunk with big spinesswells up like a Buddha belly in age when it gets older it turns grayish-green
Leaf Type: The palmate leaves are deciduous for a period in winter
Foliage Color:
Leaf Size:
Petiole:
Crown Shaft:
Inflorescence:Showy white lily-like flowers in fall and sometimes into winter.
Gender:
Flower Color:
Fruit Size:silky airborne seeds, produced in the large pods, are sometimes used in life preservers and as pillow fillers. Seed capsules burst with seed and a cottony substance called kapok.
Fruit Color:
Irritant:

Comments: Its relative, chorisia speciosa, is less hardy to frost but has spectacular pink blossoms in the fall. Abundant water in the growing season can make a large tree quickly as they have been recorded to grow 5 meters (15 feet) a year in optimum conditions. Hardy to about 20 degrees F, although hardiness varies with individuals. Stem dieback may occur but the plants are quick to recover if watered properly. Prune damaged growth in spring. If plants freeze back they are prone to coming back from the base. Can make a shade tree in warmer areas, or an interesting patio tree. Many bonsai them in large pots. In deep soil this can become a good shade tree, otherwise it is grown for its spectacular flowers and interesting shape.