Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
tural seed flosses are valuable non-timber forest products consisting of fine, hair-like fibers that surround seeds inside woody plant capsules.
Step 2: Detailed Explation:
True Kapok is a tural cellulosic fiber obtained from the seed pods of Ceiba pentandra (commonly known as the Kapok tree or White Silk-Cotton tree, family Malvaceae).
The fibers are lightweight, highly buoyant, water-resistant, and resilient.
These properties arise because the fibers are hollow (filled with air) and coated with a tural waxy substance that repels water.
Because they are slippery and lack twist, they cannot be spun into yarn, but they are used for insulation, stuffing life jackets, and upholstery.
Bombax ceiba (Red Silk-Cotton tree) produces a similar seed floss known as Indian Kapok or Semul floss.
Cochlospermum religiosum produces a yellow silk-cotton floss, and Calotropis gigantea produces madar floss.
Thus, Ceiba pentandra is the botanical source of true Kapok.
Step 3: Fil Answer
The floss obtained from Ceiba pentandra is commercially known as Kapok.