| Native Kapok tree is a shrub or small tree to 6 m, with large-lobed leaves and showy yellow flowers. The flowers are 6-8 cm wide, appearing from May to September. They are followed by egg-shaped capsules, 6-10 cm long, containing seeds. Usually found on rocky slopes and vine thicket gullies around Townsville and further north into the Northern Territory, the Kapok loses all its leaves before flowering, which makes the flowering more obvious. The flowers are edible raw and are quite pleasant, although more than 90% water, they are surprisingly high in Vitamin C After the yellow flowers are pollinated, large, globular, green, papery fruit develop, which eventually turn brown and split along the seams to release their seed. The small black seeds are woven in a dense mat of fine silky hairs. This material is known as 'kapok' and was apparently used to stuff life preservers during the Second World War. 10 Seeds |