Fruits of Mexico: Kapok, strange fruit growing on even stranger tree

[phortun]

Hi Steemmates!

As my entry for today´s #foodphotography contest hosted by @juliank, I would like to show you another interesting fruit (and tree) that is native to Mexico and some other tropical countries in Latin America and Asia.

This curious fruit is known as kapok and it grows on a tree that goes by several different names such as the ceiba tree, the silk floss tree or just the kapok.

Some ceiba species can reach up to 70 m (230 ft) in height, with massive branchless trunks and huge, spreading umbrella-shaped canopies that are resistant to hurricanes.

The national tree of Guatemala, the ceiba has been considered a sacred tree by the Mayans. Trunks of young ceiba trees are covered with massive thorns and it is believed that the dead ascend by the thorns up to the top of the tree and then further up to the heaven. Therefore, ceibas can often be found around cemeteries.

Once the tree is mature, it starts producing seed pods that resemble avocados in shape and color. So technically, these are actually not fruits but rather seeds, even though it is often referred to as the kapok fruit. The seed oil is edible but it is the puffy white fibers hidden inside the seeds that are the most valued parts of the "fruit" as they are used to fill mattresses, sleeping bags, clothes, saddles etc. The fibers are hypoallergenic and they are the most common mattress filling in all Southeast Asia.

I took all of these photos in the Mexican town of Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya.

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Comments

[intuitvwandrlust]

We have these trees in Saint Croix too! Funny I would find this post today because I just discovered them yesterday. Love the photography.

[phortun]

Thank you! :)

[truestories]

Tak při 70 metrech musí být zajímavý sběr ovoce ;-) navíc s těmi trny :)

[phortun]

To teda jo :D I když je fakt, že ta vlákna z těch bobulí časem sama vypadají, takže to pak stačí posbírat na zemi :)

[truestories]

;-)

[armentor]

Interesting post and your photo of the ceiba tree thorns is like from another planet . Reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk.

[phortun]

Thanks, it does look like something out of a sci-fi movie :)

[bethvalverde]

Wow. Those thorns!! I will have to check those trees out when I go.

[phortun]

Absolutely :)

[ck-cake]

The tree is amazing, almost like a tree from another planet! :)

[phortun]

Haha, exactly :) You dont have these in Thailand?

[melinda010100]

Great photos! That is such an unusual tree and I didn't know about thorns/ladder!

[phortun]

Thanks Melinda :) I hadnt seen anything like this before either :) Unusual tree indeed.

[bucipuci]

Vypadá to trochu jako velké oholené kiwi, nebo přerostlá hruška ;-)

[phortun]

:D zajímavá přirovnání

[bucipuci]

;-)

[gillianpearce]

Great photographs and post @phortun. I was trying to remember where I'd heard about the kapok tree before and then realised it was the fibres.

That stem and thorns looks a bit like a blown up rose stem! 😊

[phortun]

You are right, the stem does resemble a giant rose :) Honestly, it was not until writig this post that I found out the "fruit" is actually a kind of cotton :D

[orges1]

Wonderful photos @phorton ♡

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