▪ I. bombax
(ˈbɒmbæks)
[Altered from L. bombyx raw silk; see bombace.]
A genus of tropical trees (family Sterculiaceæ), which bear a fruit containing seeds surrounded by a beautiful silky fibre; esp. B. Ceiba, the Silk-cotton tree of West Indies.
| 1834 Nat. Philos. III. Phys. Geog. (U.K.S.) 46 Humboldt measured..a bombax ceiba more than 120 feet high. 1863 Wanderings W. Africa I. 143 Scattered with tall Bentangs or Bombax trees. 1884 Edin. Rev. July 159 Stately bombaxes, flecked with the snowy tufts of their bursting seed-pods. |
▪ II. bombax
obs. f. bombyx.