Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

Charlie, can you remember what the street trees are in Madeira that they
call the tulip trees? They're not Liriodendrons but are pink with white
bits and have rather waxy petals. We looked them up while we were there and
have promptly forgotten again. Old age creeping on, obviously!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Charlie, can you remember what the street trees are in Madeira that they
call the tulip trees? They're not Liriodendrons but are pink with white
bits and have rather waxy petals. We looked them up while we were there
and
have promptly forgotten again. Old age creeping on, obviously!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Do you mean the Kapok trees? Chorisia speciosa

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

On 13/10/06 09:30, in article , "Charlie
Pridham" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Charlie, can you remember what the street trees are in Madeira that they
call the tulip trees? They're not Liriodendrons but are pink with white
bits and have rather waxy petals. We looked them up while we were there
and
have promptly forgotten again. Old age creeping on, obviously!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Do you mean the Kapok trees? Chorisia speciosa

That's it! Thank you. A lot of them were in flower while we were there and
several were going over, so their flowering period must be long and
staggered. They're really beautiful.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

On 13/10/06 09:30, in article , "Charlie
Pridham" wrote:

Do you mean the Kapok trees? Chorisia speciosa

That's it! Thank you. A lot of them were in flower while we were there and
several were going over, so their flowering period must be long and
staggered. They're really beautiful.

Later in the year, the seed pods open , looking exactly like big
lumps of cotton wool.

Janet

Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

On 13/10/06 11:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough" wrote:

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

On 13/10/06 09:30, in article , "Charlie
Pridham" wrote:

Do you mean the Kapok trees? Chorisia speciosa

That's it! Thank you. A lot of them were in flower while we were there and
several were going over, so their flowering period must be long and
staggered. They're really beautiful.

Later in the year, the seed pods open , looking exactly like big
lumps of cotton wool.

Don't remember any of those, so we must have seen the 'going over' ones just
before that.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 13/10/06 11:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough" wrote:

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

On 13/10/06 09:30, in article , "Charlie
Pridham" wrote:

Do you mean the Kapok trees? Chorisia speciosa

That's it! Thank you. A lot of them were in flower while we were
there and
several were going over, so their flowering period must be long and
staggered. They're really beautiful.

Later in the year, the seed pods open , looking exactly like big
lumps of cotton wool.

Don't remember any of those, so we must have seen the 'going over' ones
just
before that.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

The green pods were just starting to split when we were there so you only
just missed them.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

Msg. for Charlie re trees in Madeira
 

On 13/10/06 18:11, in article , "Charlie
Pridham" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 13/10/06 11:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough" wrote:

snip

Later in the year, the seed pods open , looking exactly like big
lumps of cotton wool.

Don't remember any of those, so we must have seen the 'going over' ones
just
before that.
--

The green pods were just starting to split when we were there so you only
just missed them.

Yes, a close-run thing! We saw lots of petals lying on the ground in the
streets and in the hotel gardens but equally, we saw many still in full
flower. They really are a wonderful sight.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

It is more specifically called the floss silk tree, but it is a kind of kapok. Chorisia speciosa has been re-genus-ed as Ceiba speciosa, and is from the southern hemisphere American tropics. The name kapok is more specifically used for Ceiba pentandra, which is from the northern hemisphere American tropics.
I saw some truly astonishing examples of C. speciosa in northern Argentina, where it is native. Absolutely massive, trunk about 6 feet in diameter, the flowers of a single tree perfuming a whole square. In Spanish, they call it "palo borracho", which means drunken stick, referring to the way the trunk bulges out as if it has a pot-belly on mature specimens, which becomes more obvious on mature trees. The "thorns" on the trunks can be something to behold too.