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Pseudobombax ellipticum

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Cut in half, when it started to grow in the spring. And five new buds emerged.


Older plant cut back make a nice looking plant.


The bark from an old plant. Photo by Ferdinand Poilodan.

Author: Armando Dugand, 1943
Family:  BOMBACACEAE*
Origin:  Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Windward Islands
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  50 Centimetres
Height:  10 Meters
Flower:  White - Pink
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  Shaving-Brush Tree
Synonyms:  Bombax ellipticum, Kunth, 1922.
Bombax mexicanum, Hemsl.1878.
Carolinea fastuosa,
A. P. de Candolle. 1824.
Pachira fastuosa,
Decaisne, 1880.
Pseudobombax ellipticum var. tenuiflorum, A.Robyns.

This member of the Bombacaceae* family was given this name by Armando Degand in 1943. It is found in the central America, growing among rocks in a well-drained soil. Quite some water when in growth, none in winter. The caudex will grow to more than 50 centimetres, the stems will reach ten meters or even more. The flowers are white to pink. It can only be reproduced by seeds.

The genera name from Greek pseudo; 'false' and Bombax, another genera in the family. The species name means 'elliptical', about twice as long as wide, for the leaves. 

*)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Bombacaceae is now part of the Malvaceae.


A flower by Alan Butterfield.


An other plant which have been cut back.


An older stem by Pamla J. Eisenberg.