A genus of tropical trees that includes the kapok or ceiba tree, characterized by large flowers and seed pods containing silky fibers.
From Latin 'bombax' (cotton tree), derived from Arabic 'bambak' (cotton). The term was adopted by Linnaeus for the botanical genus containing cotton and kapok trees.
Bombax is actually just the fancy Latin name for the same trees that have given us life jackets and mattress stuffing for centuries—it's the scientific way to say 'the cotton tree family'!
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