Cochlospermum religiosum

Cochlospermum religiosum- yellow silk cotton tree flowering:
Sharing the beautiful, various hued coloured foliage of Cochlospermum religiosum –yellow silk cotton tree, as seen by me early Jan.  2011 at the south end of the forest in Mumbai, and the flowering of the same tree as seen by me on 16 Jan 2011.

– The flowering of this tree indicates the arrival of spring soon.

Yellow Silk Cotton flowering:
Close-up photographs taken at my farm yesterday.

cochleospermum religiosa:
as it becomes warmer the cochleospermums at my place in alibaug have started
shedding their leaves and have started flowering. these were taken today morning.

ID:
Attached pic of flower taken near Buldhan of Maharashtra.

– This may be  Cochlospermum religiosum. Please find my photo from Ranpur, Nayagarh, Orissa which grows luxurantly as a population at an altitude of 400 to 700 m above msl in the eastern side of the mountatin.

– Cochlospermum religiosum. Buttercup tree, Yellow slik cotton tree, Golden silk cotton tree • Hindi: Galgal • Marathi: Ganeri • Kannada: Arasina buruga +Tamil: Kattupparutti •
These trees are flowering in Mysore city also.

Request Tree/Shrub ID 0010:
Opposite E Block, IISC, Bangalore

This is the Yellow Silk Cotton tree [Cochlospermum religiosum].

this is Cochlospermum religiosum – Buttercup Tree गणेर

This is not Cochlospermum religiosum. Leaves of Cochlospermum religiosum are quite different (pentaphyllate). Do you have any other photographs of the  tree or bush to be ID-ied..

I think this is Sterculia urens

I am herewith enclosing the flower photography of Cochlospermum religiosum (Linn.) Alston

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cochlospermum religiosum dehiscence:
cochlospermum religiosum dehiscence

Cochlospermum religiosum:
Cochlospermum religiosum
today at my place in alibaug

Here is a photo of an old seed pod that i took i took last weekend in Arsikere, KA

Related Link
Ecoport

Adding my pictures of Cochlospermum religiosum fruits.
An interesting observation: The plants I observe in Pune are almost leafless when in flower whereas here they have quite a number of leaves.

Superb catch … and … @ …, again the quality is absolutely superb due to timing, light, angle, sutter speed, etccccccccccc. and finally the background.

When C.religiosum is in fruits and when they are mature, dehiscing……
you may observe the following in a few weeks.
Sit under a C.religiosum and wait for the wind on the fruits.
You will see that the outer shell and an independant inner shell (feels like plastic) rub against each other.
Its nature’s mechanical engineering……wonderful to observe sitting under this tree.
and the resultant – one seed with cotton is slowly exposed at the bottom base of the fruit.
Next the soft cotton ball gets expanded and gets fluffy.
The seed waits at the very end of the fruit tip with its ‘coma’ attached.
On the blow of the next wind the seed gets blown away and is dispersed.
If you observe carefully and patiently you can see that the seeds come out one by one in a queue and get blown off by the wind……one by one.
You must observe the structure of the fruit, so well evolved – perfecly designed – its such a delight to sit undr this tree and obseve the dispersal.
its something you cant miss………..the finer details…..

… you are fortunate to see such a beautiful event happening in real. Wonderful nature’s mechanical engineering. You have described it so well that I could actually imagine it .Thanks for sharing

Nice plant picture of Cochlospermum religiosum

Re: MS ID 124 June 2013 – Request Id of the tree :  Attachments (5). 4 posts by 4 authors.
Please ID the plant. Photographs were taken on 19.5.2013 in Chamundi hills, Mysore. Looks like a Kavalama species (syn. Sterculia (urens ?).

It looks like Cochlospermum religiosum.

Cochlospermum religiosum (Silk-Cotton Tree).

Thanks for the identification I realised it was the same tree of which I took 2 different stage picture one of flower the other of fruit!!

Fwd: fruits of cochlospermum on two trees : 3 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)
pl see attachments

There is a Cochlospermum gossypium DC. which is synonymous with C. religiosum (L.) Alston. According to Haines (in BoBO) it has large pear shaped pendulous fruits.
There is one Bombax gossypinum Willd. iii. 732, in Flora Indica, which is synonymous (?) with C. vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng. According to Roxburgh – “capsule broad turbinate, as large as a goose egg, five lobed ……”
Don’t know if Bombax gossypinum is an orthographic variant of B. gossypinum. Neither do I know if those tree belong to same species or not.

Bonfire tree is another name for firmiania colorata. Temple tree is common name for the plumeria rubra I think – with yellow or white flowers similar to Champa. I took some pics that I will add to on my subsequent trips

Yes I will search my archive and post those I find. These locations are to be found within a radius of about 60-80 km from Bangalore in all directions – Kanakpura and Mysore road to the south, toward Kolar in the east and Tumkur to the north or Magadi to west etc
I am part of an avid trek club which takes me to all these obscure and beautiful places!

Cochlospermum religiosum SR 1 Feb16 : 10 posts by 5 authors. Attachments (2)

It is my pleasure to present few images of Cochlospermum religiosum (Bixaceae)  

Habit: Tree 

Habitat: Wild, Dry deciduous forest 

Sighting: Chikmagalur and Tumkur, Karnataka about 900 msl 

Date: 23-02-2015, 05-03-2015 and 14-06-2015

Fwd: two kinds of fruit of cochlospermum : 3 posts by 2 authors.

attached image, showing fruit from one set of trees all bearing this purple coloured glabrous fruit, and second fruit from another set of trees all bearing this tennisball textured fruit.
both groups of trees are from the same area.

may i request if this could be sent up on your website to elicit information on the species or varieties.

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Cochlospermum. Attachments (2)

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couldn’t find any clue.

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I have seen both types of this fruit on cochlospermum. The purple colour is there initially then turns greyish. After this happens it bursts and releases winged seeds. I have one in my living room now that I am watching!I think it’s the same species

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thanks for the response.
the grey fruit is grey from the time a flower is turning to fruit, right from the fruits juvenile form. it continues grey throughout, and when it dehisces.
i can only describe the ovary of the flower – it is greyish white pubescent.
i have some pics, but unfortunately the gmail is refusing to attach these to the email.

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Thanks … That’s interesting. But I distinctly recall seeing both types of fruit in this species. From the picture you uploaded the flower seems to suggest Cochlospermum.

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yes, of course it is cochlospermum. but i suspect that there are two species or at least a variation is present in the area where i visit regularly.

if you have flora of java, by backer, check cochlospermum. there two species mentioned. the descriptions both start with ovary. one says ovary glabrous, the other says ovary pubescent.

i have a friend who runs a nursery as professsion. but he raises local trees also and he confirms that the area where he collects cochlospermum seeds, there are two kinds of fruits and they are on different trees. he has the same suspicion as mine.
i dont know where you stay. if you do come to pune, we can visit. of course, this should happen before 20 april, as i will then be away for four months.

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Very Interesting picture of the two fruits side by side
Would your nurseryman friend loan you some of those seeds and fibers to photograph ?

I wonder if in java, they collect and keep their fibres separate, ie is there any qualitative difference:    or in their seed oil..? and for botanists esp economic botanists : some more questions?
if ovaries are different, are chromosome numbers different ?
flower structure?
leaves?

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I think both are of Cochlospermum religiosum as per images herein.
I find lot of variation in both colour & shape from the postings.

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MS/23/10/2016 – 2- Request for Id of a tree : 4 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)
I have the photographs of  the tree with leaves only. It could be  Cochlospermum religiosa. Please confirm.

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May be.

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I think matches with images at Cochlospermum religiosum

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SS_17_July_2018_Request_for_ID : 13 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (3)

Sending this ID request on behalf of a friend. Could you please help to identify the tree.
Location: Vikhroli, Mumbai, Mhaharashtra
Date: 20th June 2018
Habitat: Not wild but an undisturbed patch of trees near residential society
Habit: Large tree
Please find attached the photographs.

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This appears to be Cochlospermum religiosum (L.) Alston [Bixaceae].

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well, the species level id, i have a little reservation. Ofcourse as … said is indeed a Cochlospermum sp.

I used to have a Cochlospermum religiosum but i do not recall seeing three leaflet leaves mixed in with the diagnostic five leaflet leaves

and your first picture has many 3 leaflet leaves.

may be its because they are lower, younger and apparently sprouting from the basal part of the trunk

Somebody will have to confirm this, either in a publication or herbarium specimen.

and leaflets wider than most i have seen and surmise from the photos on the internet.

And that changes the thought process.

secondly the vertical brown raised “ridges” on the trunk bark are also not familiar, may be its a function of this tree probably is young, has not had horizontal growth to cause the fissures.

again, i have not found any documentation about this kind of bark, unless there are botanical publications tht i  have no access to them.
till then it is Cochlospermum sp.

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well! searching i found a picture of  bark of c. religiosum by Gargji
that has vertically arranged nubby raised nodularity, somewhat reminiscent of this case here. may be related???

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what is your opinion about their comparability?

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To me also appear close.

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Thank you so much for your inputs.

My friend who had requested for ID of this tree, also had doubts about the tree being Cochlospermum religiosum because of the bark being full of lenticels.
I think the tree needs to be revisited again for collecting more data and also for flower and fruit details to clarify the doubts about the ID.

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I am delighted with this most open minded answer. yes, if it were my case i would certainly do that. quest is certainly not for instant gratification with a diagnosis but truly to  study and to identify the species and in the process learn about the tree’s true identity and aging /maturing process.
looking forward to follow up in the coming months as you see flowers, and then new leaves and then pods //fruits etc and dont forget to document the changes in the bark

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I will definitely follow up on this with my friend and update accordingly.

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Cochlospermum religiosum sapling : 3 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (2)- 1 mb and 2 mb.
SAPLING brought from Auroville Botanical Garden.

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very nice. we need a separate page or something for saplings, first leaves, seeds etc for earlier and earlier id. … is very good at recognizing young trees/plants. may be he will have suggestions

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in Pune- 30/1/08; on 5/2/08 on hills near Pune for last one month; 10/3/07 in Kolkata & now (5/3/08); Goregaon CEC land, Mumbai- – 9/3/08; at Godrej Mangrove Park, Vikhroli, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India on 20th Dec. 2008; at the south end of the national park in Mumbai. Pictures taken on 16 Jan.’10; in Feb.2001, in Jan.06, from Jan-Feb 07, Feb 08, Feb-Mar 09- at Shahapur; in Jan 09 in BPT garden (Mumbai); on Sangeeta’s farm at Shahpur in Feb ’09; 28 Mar 2010-Mamandur;

Beautiful Trees & Shrubs of Calcutta- Flowers in early spring (Feb.- March) when tree is leafless.

Cochlospermum religiosum – indiantreepix | Google Groups

Trees sporting the summer look #3 of 15 | IDREQ- 02Apr10AR01 – efloraofindia | Google Groups
Cochlospermum religiosum (L.) -Yellow silk cotton tree – efloraofindia | Google Groups
Cotton Tree for ID – indiantreepix | Google Groups
Yellow silk cotton tree flowering ! – indiantreepix | Google Groups
Golgol-Ganer – indiantreepix | Google Groups
Tabebuia – indiantreepix | Google Groups
Cochlospermum – indiantreepix | Google Groups

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Images by tspkumar, Shubhada Nikharge, Satish Phadke, Raghu Ananth (Id by Neil Soares), Mohina Macker, Aarti S Khale, Sibdas Ghosh (Id by Pravin Kawale), Rashida Atthar, Nadeem Waqif (id by Radha Veach), Neil Soares, Surajit Koley, S Dharma, B D Bhave (id by Barry Stock) (Inserted by J.M.Garg) (For more photos & complete details, click on the links)

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ID – 001 :  2 images.

Can you post leaf and flower frontal image ?

Might be Cochlospermum religiosum …,
but need some more information to conformation,

I guess ID seems correct …!

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Sri Lanka yellow flower: 2 images.
I am looking for the name of this beautiful yellow flower. I think it’s the genus Ochna maybe the species integerrima. But the shape of the fruit does not seem to confirm this identification! Please give me your point of view.
Photo du 06/03/2022 a Ranna, Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka

Was it a tree?

Yes, it was.

Looks like Cochlospermum vitifolium.. common name buttercup tree.
I have only seen the double flowered one.. plenum

Bixaceae: Cochlospermum religiosum: 4 images.
Cochlospermum religiosum from paderu forest area, Visakhapatnam district of Andhra pradesh, Eastern Ghats. 

On 12/03/2024

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