Shaving brush tree - Pseudobombax ellipticum

Common Name :	Shaving brush tree.
Botanical Name :	Pseudobombax ellipticum
Family :	Malvaceae
Bengali name :	ছদ্ম শিমুল।
Photo Taken :	India

Shaving brush tree is a plant native to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and the proximity region. Later it was introduced into some other tropical countries. Botanical name of the plant is Pseudobombax ellipticum. It belongs to the plant family Malvaceae.

Shaving brush tree (Pseudobombax ellipticum) is a fast growing medium sized deciduous plant. This can reach up to 20 meter in height. Bark is flaky and streaked with green. Leafs are compound palmate with 3-6 elliptic leaflets. Young leafs are dark red but later turn into green. I'vent got a chance to see leaf during my observation as it was winter that time.

A lovely flower bud.

Flowers are silky and very attractive (in two colors pink and white). They bloom in a cluster. A flower comprises with a single pinkish style surrounded by white stamens (for white flower). Flower bud is tubular and green. When the bud blooms, inner side of the petal is white and outer side is still greenish. When the flower blooms it looks like a shaving brush. That is the reason the plant got the name Shaving brush tree. Flower blooms during winter and keeps blooming till Spring.

Closer look to the flower bud.

The genus name Pseudobombax came from the two latin words "Pseudo" and "bombax", they means "false" and "cotton" respectively. This flower looks similar to the Silk cotton tree flower (which is known as Bombax ceiba). But it doesn't produce any cotton. That's why named as False cotton.

The tree was leafless. Couldn't find any leaf there.

A withering flower about to fall.

Flowers of this Shaving brush tree (Pseudobombax ellipticum) were taken from Kolkata Botanic Garden, India. It was during January 2016 while I was traveling there.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icflora.blogspot.com/