Red Silk Cotton

It is difficult not to notice a red silk cotton tree. Except for a short duration when it is leafless, it looks spectacular either in full bloom or in full foliage. A full grown tree is tall with a huge spread of branches. The tree flowers in January - February at which time they are usually leafless.

The arrangement of branches about its straight trunk is in whorls. The symmetrical arrangement of branches that whorl around the straight trunk is clearly noticeable in a young tree. The trunk of a young red silk cotton tree (first picture) has sharp conical prickles. These disappear as the tree grows older.

In dry regions, trees start shedding leaves in December and is leafless in about a month's time. In moist regions, trees keep their leaves till March. New leaves appear after the flowering season.

Red silk cotton flowers are bright red and the petals are fleshy. The flower has a large number of stamens. Some trees have orange or orange-yellow flowers.

The red silk cotton's leaves are large. It is composed of 3, 5 or 7 long leaflets, arranged like the fingers of a hand, on a long common stalk. The pictures in the sixth row show the unfurling of fresh leaves.

The red silk cotton’s fruit is about four to five inches long and is oblong-egg-shaped. Pods ripen in April-May and dehisce, in June-July (burst open) on the tree to shower the seeds encapsulated within a mass of silky hair. At such time, it is not uncommon to find the ground beneath a well grown tree layered with soft cotton, blown around in the mildest of breezes. The foggy pictures in the tenth row shows what a strong gust of wind can do for dispersal.