Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 111

Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.

Names.

Myanmar: le-moh-pin, lewah, thinbaw-letpan. English: capoc, ceiba, kapok, silk-cottontree, white silk-cottontree.

Range.

Nicolson (1979) regards the original range as pantropical. Bornstein (1989) indicates that it is native from Mexico south to northern South America and the West Indies, and introduced and more or less naturalized in the Old World. Villiers (1973) notes an American origin for the plant, and that its presence in Gabon, West Africa is rarely in primary forest, and it is a species of zones occupied or cultivated by man. Cultivated in Myanmar.

Uses.

Leaf: Used in the treatment of gonorrhea. Root: Useful tonic; also employed as a diuretic. Juice from the roots is used to treat diabetes. The gum is used as a tonic, astringent, laxative, and restorative.

Notes.

Medicinal uses of this species in India are discussed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991). Indigenous medicinal uses of this species in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India) are described by Dagar and Singh (1999). Perry (1980) discusses the medicinal uses of the species in Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula, and the Philippines.

Data on the propagation, seed treatment, and agricultural management of this species are given by Katende et al. (1995) and Bekele-Tesemma (1993).

References.

Mya Bwin and Sein Gwan (1967), Perry (1980).