kapok

[prettygoodword]

kapok (KAY-pok) - n., a massive tropical deciduous tree (Ceiba pentandra) with short prickles on its trunk, a lightweight wood, and large seed pods containing numerous silky fibers; the silky fibers from its seed pods, used for insulation and stuffing for mattresses, pillows, and so on.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

The fiber is also known as silk-cotton and Java cotton. Although it is cultivated primarily in Java, Malaysia, and the Philippines, it is actually native to Central America, the Caribbean, and West Africa. The English name for both tree and fiber is adopted in the 1730s from the Malay name kapuk for the fiber, transferred from similar fibers from unrelated native trees (genus Bombax) -- the Spanish/Portuguese name for the tree is ceiba, and why we didn't adopt that and how the tree arrived in Asia are both mysteries to me. The fiber in its pod:


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.