The Kapok Tree

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KAPOK TREE IN FRONT OF ST PETERSBURG MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra)

There is a splendid example of a kapok tree at the corner of Beach Drive and Central Avenue on the front lawn of the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, It’s Not All Palm Trees, there are several unusual trees growing in Florida. The kapok is one of them. This article from the MFA, What’s that tree out in front of the Museum?, describes the tree and has a very nice close-up of the tree’s flowers.

Rather than me detail what a kapok tree is, please see this very readable one page discussion of kapok trees at Blue Planet Biomes/Kapok, a site created and developed by West Tisbury K-8 School (Martha’s Vineyard) teacher Elisabeth Benders-Hyde which she based on a biome project by Ann and Karl Nelson, 6th grade math and science teachers. I’m not sure how long that site will be up; so, I’ve taken the liberty of listing part of its bibliography below. However, do try their page; it’s excellent. Here’s the working links from their bibliography:

• Ceiba pentandra (Bombacaceae)
• Ceiba pentandra L.-Kapok tree

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CLOSE-UP OF KAPOK TREE PODS AND LEAVES

The Kapok Tree Restaurant

Time was, however, that if you mentioned the “Kapok Tree” to anyone in the Tampa Bay area, they would know you meant the Kapok Tree Restaurant up in Clearwater. When I was a baby professor back in 1969, the entire faculty and staff of the University of South Florida School of Music–then just a small department of music–would be treated to dinner at this restaurant at the beginning of each academic year. The Kapok Tree was a palace of kitsch that was THE place to take out-of-town company and to celebrate anniversaries or birthdays. It is no longer a functioning restaurant, but much of its unique interior has been preserved, although the space has been carved into three businesses only one of which has anything to do with food (a catering company). The Kapok Tree has a devoted following. Below are two sites by fellow fans of this Floridiana classic establishment (Ben’s is a “must see” site) and an article from the St. Pete Times about the history of the restaurant and the recent passing of its founder.

• Ben’s Tribute To Clearwater’s Fabled Kapok Tree Restaurant–Benzplace (great, OLD pictures with lots of history and walk-through slide shows; a real tribute site, not to be missed)
• The former Kapok Tree Restaurant Gardens–Virtual Tourist (good pictures of the old restaurant)
• Kapok Tree Founder

There are more unusual Florida trees waiting for posts. One of my absolute favorites is the Jacaranda mimosifolia, but that will have to wait until summer when its numerous, delicate purple flowers are in bloom. However, not all flowering trees need to be in bloom to be interesting, visually. The kapok tree is one of those. The tangle of its limbs cantilevering at improbable angles invites a whole village of hobbits to rest in its arms.

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CLOSE-UP OF KAPOK TREE TRUNK

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Tagged as: Florida, Floridiana, historic, nature, trees