Interesting Facts
Common Names
Click on the language to view common names.
Common Names in English:
Silk-Cotton Tree, Cottontree, Silk-Cottontree
Common Names in Hindi:
Gabdi, Gjara, Glagal, गजरा, गबडी, गलगल
Common Names in India:
Galgal, Katira
Common Names in Portuguese:
Algodão-Da-índia
Common Names in Spanish:
Capoquero Blanco
Common Names in Tamil:
Kattupparutti, Malaipparutti
Description
Family Bixaceae
Shrubs
or small trees
. Young branches and leaves with peltate scales
. Leaves alternate; stipules small, sheathing
bud, fugacious
; petiole
swollen at base
and apex; leaf blade
simple
, palmately veined. Inflorescence a terminal
panicle. Flowers bisexual
, actinomorphic
. Sepals 5, free
, imbricate, with basal, abaxial
glands
, fugacious. Petals 5, imbricate, large and conspicuous
. Stamens many, free or slightly united
at base; anthers
oblong
, with 2 inverted
, U-shaped thecae, dehiscing by short, apical slits on bend
. Ovary superior, 1-loculed; ovules many on 2 parietal
placentas; style slender; stigmas 2-lobed. Fruit a capsule, loculicidally 2-valved, usually spiny
. Seeds many; testa red, slightly fleshy
; embryo large; cotyledons broad, incurved
at apex; endosperm copious
.
One genus and five species: native
to tropical
America; one species widely cultivated in tropical regions
, including China.
Molecular data suggest that the genus Diegodendron Capuron, endemic to Madagascar, is related to Bixa and could be included
within the Bixaceae.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Malvanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Malvales
()
- Dumortier, 1829
- Suborder:
Bixineae
()
- Family:
Bixaceae
()
- Kunth, 1822, nom. cons.
- Lipstick Tree Family
- Genus:
Cochlospermum
()
- Kunth, in Humboldt et al., 1822, nom. cons.
- Specific epithet:
religiosum
- (L.) Alston
- Botanical name: - Cochlospermum religiosum (L.) Alston
- Specific epithet:
religiosum
- (L.) Alston
- Genus:
Cochlospermum
(
- Family:
Bixaceae
(
- Suborder:
Bixineae
(
- Order:
Malvales
(
- Superorder:
Malvanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Synonyms
Bombax religiosum L.
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000
Similar Species
Members of the genus Cochlospermum
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 4 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. gillivraei (Kapok Tree) · C. religiosum (Silk-Cotton Tree) · C. tetraporum (Palo Papel) · C. vitifolium (Buttercup Tree)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Botanical Museum leaflets, Harvard University. 10 1942 Cambridge, Mass.: Botanical Museum, Harvard University, 1932- url p. 151.
- Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 148, p. 556, p. 61, p. 62.
- Flora Vitiensis nova: a new Flora of Fiji (spermatophytes only) / Albert C. Smith. Lawaii, Hawaii: Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, 1979- url p. 671.
- Zhang Pengyun & Zhang Yaojia. 1990. Bixaceae. In: Li Hsiwen, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 50(2): 180.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Jan 19, 2007.
- USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 26, 2008)
- USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2670162
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-506130
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:169697-1
- GRIN Nomen Number: 105271
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 506130
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 169697-1
- U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CORE11
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 29135
Footnotes
- Qiner Yang & Michael G. Gilbert "Bixaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 71. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
