Silk-cotton tree is a small deciduous tree of dry forests in India and Southeast Asia, grown for its bright yellow flowers and cotton-like seed capsules. It needs a warm, sunny spot and very little water once established.
Family
Cochlospermaceae (Cochlosperm family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while young, then reduce to occasional deep watering once established.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or loamy soil.
Temperature
18–35 °C; protect from frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
India to Myanmar
Climate
wet tropical
About
Cochlospermum religiosum is a flowering plant from the tropical region of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It is a small tree growing to a height of 7.5 m (25 ft) usually found in dry deciduous forests.
The name religiosum derives from the fact that the flowers are used as temple offerings. It is also known as silk-cotton tree because the capsules containing the seeds have a fluffy cotton-like substance similar to kapok. Another common name is buttercup tree because its yellow and bright flowers look like large-sized buttercups.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cochlospermum religiosum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.