Toa Payoh Heritage Kapok Tree - Toa Payoh N

The Kapok Tree is found throughout the Neotropics, from southern Mexico to the southern Amazon and even to parts of West Africa. Kapok is a name used in English speaking countries for both the tree and the cotton-like fluff obtained from its seed pods. This Kapok Tree (Scientific name: Ceiba pentandra), at Toa Payoh North Flyover Traffic Island, was planted around 1970 when the Toa Payoh satellite town and the flyover were built. It now stands as a living landmark for commuters. This Heritage Tree had a girth of 5.5m when measured in Year 2001. A fast growing tree that can reach up to 50m in height, sometimes growing as much as 4 metre per year and has a long lifespan of over 100 years. Trunk is massive, covered in thorns, heavily buttressed. Crown is made up of branches that are arranged in a tiered fashion, resembling a pagoda. A deciduous tree, it sheds its leaves before flowering and fruiting in response to drought. Flowers are cream coloured, the white and pink flowers of the kapok tree emit a foul odor that attracts bats. As the flying mammals move from flower to flower feasting on the nectar, they transfer pollen on their fur, thus facilitating pollination. The kapok tree does a great job at spreading its seeds, producing anywhere between 500 and 4,000 fruits at one time, with each fruit containing 200 seeds. Fruits are large hanging pods that split open when ripe to release white fibre to which tiny black seeds are attached. The fibre is buoyant and water-resistant and was used in the past to stuff life-jackets, pillows and mattresses. The Kapok Tree is considered to be the National Tree of Puerto Rico, a north-east municipality in the country is named after its scientific name, Ceiba. The first Kapok in Singapore was planted in 1933 by Eric Holttum, a former director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.