Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Ceiba pentandra group

Sometimes 3 varieties are distinguished.

• Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.: (var. pentandra), the cultivated kapok of West Africa and Asia. up to 30 m tall, bole unbranched, usually spineless, buttresses small or absent, branches horizontal or ascending, leaves intermediate between the 2 other varieties, flowering annually after leaf-shedding, fruits short or long, narrowed at both ends or banana-shaped, usually indehiscent, fibre usually white; 2n = 72-84.
• Ceiba pentandra var. caribaea (DC.) Bakh.f.: up to 70 m tall, with unforked, buttressed and spiny bole and horizontal branches, leaves narrow, flowering irregular, fruits rather short and broad, dehiscent, fibre grey to white; 2n = 80, 88. Distribution: American tropics and West Africa.
• Ceiba pentandra var. guineensis (Schumach.) H.G.Baker: up to 18 m tall, bole spineless without buttresses, often forked, branches ascending, leaves broad, flowering annually, fruits elongated and narrow at both ends, dehiscent, fibre grey; 2n = 72. Distribution: West Africa