Kekabu hutan is the common name for Bombax species of the family Bombacaceae. B. anceps was named from Latin anceps, meaning two-edged and it is a small tree to 15 m tall.

The bole is straight and closely set with big flattened spines arranged in rows. The bark surface is shallowly fissured and whitish to pale brownish-grey while the inner bark is soft and fibrous and red to orange in colour with slight cream and reddish flames. The tree crown is flat. The leaves are arranged spirally and are palmately compound with 5–9 leaflets that are elliptic to narrowly obovate, measuring about 6.25×2.25 – 12.5×4.5 cm and glabrous on upper and lower surfaces. The flowers are about 7.5 cm long; calyx cup-shaped, turning dark brown to brownish black when dry; stamen numerous, stamen tube about 1.5–2.5 cm long; ovary finely hairy. The fruit of B. anceps is a large woody capsule splitting into 5 parts, about 15 cm long, light green when young and turning brownish black when mature. The inner walls of the capsule are covered with cottony hairs while the seeds are embedded in dense woolly hairs.

Bombax anceps is distributed in Peninsular Malaysia (Langkawi and Penang), Indo-China, Myanmar and Thailand. It grows close to the sea in rocky areas, usually on limestone. In Peninsular Malaysia, the tree flowers between November and February. In the Malesian region and in Thailand, the cotton from B. anceps is used for stuffing mattresses and pillows while the wood is used for making toys and indoor furniture.

References:

1. Kochummen, K.M. (1972). Bombacaceae. Tree Flora of Malaya 1: 100–120.

2. Phengklai, C. (2005). Bombacaceae. Flora of Thailand 9(1): 10–32.

3. Robyns, A.G. (1963). Essai de Monographie du Genre Bombax s.l. (Bombacaceae). Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de l'État a Bruxelles 33: 1–412.

By Nadiah Idris
e-mail: nadiahidris@frim.gov.my

Edited by: Dr. E. Soepadmo
e-mail: soepadmo@frim.gov.my