Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), of the Malvaceae (formerly Bombacaceae) family. Tall deciduous tree with a prickly trunk, red flowers and floss-filled pods; native range: monsoon forests from India through southern China and Southeast Asia. Globally recognized as shalmali in Sanskrit, semal in Hindi, mu mian (木棉) in Chinese, semal in Arabic, and red silk-cotton tree, red cotton tree, kapok tree in English. The part used is flower (TCM); gum-exudate and root (Ayurveda / Unani). Fleshy scarlet flowers; the gum a ruddy brittle tear, astringent and faintly sweet; the young root pale, mucilaginous and mild.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SILK COTTON TREE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Silk cotton tree
- Scientific name
- Bombax ceiba L.
- Family
- Malvaceae (formerly Bombacaceae)
Form
- Part used
- flower (TCM); gum-exudate and root (Ayurveda / Unani)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · bland
- Ayurveda
- astringent (kashaya) · sweet (madhura)
- Unani
- astringent
Temperature
TCM: cool
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta)
Unani: cold (1st degree) & dry
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses hold the tree's products cooling, and its gum and root binding
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Large Intestine · Spleen · Stomach
- Unani
- intestines · stomach · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat, resolves dampness and toxicity, and cools the blood (the flower)
- Ayurveda
- the gum is grahi/stambhana (astringent) and rakta-stambhana (haemostatic) and vrana-ropana; the root is vrishya (aphrodisiac) and balya
- Unani
- qabiz (astringent), habis (haemostatic) and muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac, of the root)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation and cold, damp stagnation; the astringent gum in dry, hard bowel
- Toxicity
- low; the floss can irritate the airways as a dust
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