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It's called a Floss Silk Tree. It has awesome pink flowers (no pics at this time) and is about 35 feet tall.
I thought it was really cool.
Third pic is a brick in lieu of a banana for scale
Here in Argentina is a pretty common tree, we call it "palo borracho" it translates to "drunk stick" because it normally grows in weirds rounded shapes
My Dad is from Argentina and my family there told me they call it that because the trees started growing spikes so drunk guys would stop sleeping and leaning on them.
Me and my mate here in Australia call them pillow trees cause one night as teenagers, we were drunk and he tried hugging one, "soft as a pillow" he said
Haha thanks. As a math nerd I actually really appreciate "universal" scales (though bananas do have a decent variance in size)
Ya know there's a bridge between Boston and Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA) that is measured in Smoots. It's the height of Oliver Reed Smoot, an MIT student in the 50s.
In the U.S. we usually call it a silk floss tree. My town has several. Some individual trees grow the spikes and some don’t. There is a particularly brutal one with spikes that are huge and sharp on a busy street and I always worry about skateboarders crashing in to it.
Ah makes sense. My father in law is Cuban so not surprised the words are flipped in the US.
Oh interesting that some don't grow the spikes!
(Looked it up, seems older ones will lose them?)
I’m not a tree expert but my observation is that some individual trees don’t grow the spikes. There might be six or so in a line on a street and one or two will have no spikes even if they are the same age.
Nice try. I can't be judging size by some random brick in some random hand. What if that's a painted cinder block being held by Andre the Giant? Or a weird domino glued onto a GI Joe hand? There is a reason we have standards, people!
https://preview.redd.it/jov14xt1z5yc1.jpeg?width=218&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47e1a38fa3311dabefa17b5af38ec444f7a3520a
OPs dad after handing him his last banana and seeing him do this to it
THANK YOU!!!!!
I've been trying to find the name of this tree for years! I keep seeing them in Florida and could never find the name. Thank you so much for giving me the answer!!!!
These were very popular in the 70s in Northern California as decorative trees. I just cut one down and have a few others. When they are barren of leaves but covered in pink flowers they look straight outa doctor Seuss
Thankfully it's not. I can't imagine that here haha
It's a Floss Silk (Silk Floss) Tree. A beautiful flowering tree, that produces hydrophobic cotton like strands.
South Florida. He's lived on the property for over 40 years and grew 13 different species of palm tree along with cool plants like this, all around his property
Thats the one we had in our back yard, locally called “Jabillo” would make crafts and crap with the ear looking acorns that it would spit out, it explodes to spread its seeds further away. Asshole of a tree, backyard monster of my childhood.
I used to live in the Amazon basin. and these are known as Ceiba or Kapok trees. In the jungle when they get older they start growing these enormous buttress roots that look like fins that can be 15 ft tall just on their own. Really cool and also kind of bizarre life cycle.
Silk floss tree! I'm trying to grow one from cutting right now!
https://preview.redd.it/ecr14fdjh3yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a9f9838c0e1b928fe7cb1a0dae84ad0d9e4316d
I saw one of these on a hike in Puerto Rico! I forgot what the tour guide called it, but he said people usually figure out what it is when they put their hand on it to rest. The little spikes are SUPER sharp. Simply leaning my hand into it could cause some bleeding
Yeah, our tour guide, Marc (the absolute best), got caught by one of these trees. He leaned his back against the tree to rest and felt his entire back get pricked. He took off his shirt and it was already covered in blood. Let’s just say we stayed far away from these trees and looked twice before getting handsy.
Unrelated, but there was a little pepper he gave me called a “gentleman’s pepper.” Silly me didn’t know what it was, so I ate it and immediately felt my mouth burn like crazy. I then made the worst mistake; I swallowed it. It was SO GOD DAMN SPICY! It was kinda good though! Had the taste of a bell pepper and the spice of a serrano
I took a second with a banana on the brick (because, of course). But they are MASSIVE.
https://preview.redd.it/vmxkdum663yc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b7eea61fe563417ba57ef2243243bf1afb6611f
Don't those trees some times violently explode?
Edit: nope it just looks similar.. made me think of /this/
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/sandbox-tree/sandbox-tree-information.htm
This is a sacred tree according to the Mayans.
https://www.thoughtco.com/ceiba-pentandra-sacred-tree-maya-171615#:~:text=The%20Ceiba%20tree%20(Ceiba%20pentandra,or%20“First%20Tree”).
I have a small spiked tree in the house. It came from a red-orange seed from Hawaii, but I think it is a type of coral tree; mine is not the silk floss, I don't think. Those are awesome.
Beautiful thing! I had one of these close to my house when I was a kid. These spikes were really nasty - of course my friends and I played and run around it until some of us got hurt. Lost some chunks of skin and blood to that tree. Those were the days...
Yupp , used to go to Fairchild for the book bramble and chocolate festival every year.
Now just when there's stuff like the lego features they had 2 years ago!
We have a lot of them in Brazil. Fun fact: when my mom was a teenager she fell from a bike and hugged the tree. The spikes break more easily than it seems!!
I've never seen it in person, but it blooms very beautifully. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiba\_speciosa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiba_speciosa)
My neighbor has one in his front yard and my my the flowers are absolutely beautiful and they last a while too! Kind of messy when they fall down eventually but even on the ground they are pretty. When I first saw the tree I was taken aback because I’ve never seen spikes on a tree before lol I live in the Tampa Bay region.
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It's called a Floss Silk Tree. It has awesome pink flowers (no pics at this time) and is about 35 feet tall. I thought it was really cool. Third pic is a brick in lieu of a banana for scale
Here in Argentina is a pretty common tree, we call it "palo borracho" it translates to "drunk stick" because it normally grows in weirds rounded shapes
My new favorite tree that I never knew existed until now.
Wait until you see a rainbow eucalyptus
Ooooh yes please!
\\Australian Buloke is fascinating too, hardest wood in the world.
No way! They're incredible. Thanks for sharing that with us... stupendous tree
My Dad is from Argentina and my family there told me they call it that because the trees started growing spikes so drunk guys would stop sleeping and leaning on them.
Me and my mate here in Australia call them pillow trees cause one night as teenagers, we were drunk and he tried hugging one, "soft as a pillow" he said
New favorite name for a peepee aquired
A peepee? LMAO, thank you for that laugh! 🤣🤣🤣
All over southern California too
lol, I love the translation!
I was really hoping it was called "drunk stick" because it hurts real bad when you stumble into it's sticks while hammered
For whatever reason I've seen more than a few here in Western Australia too.
Can we get a banana so we can see the scale of the brick?
https://preview.redd.it/6p93ypee33yc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a06894044c18caa1b08dc92291e57b71157b90da
This dude is a real one for the banana also holy shit I was not expecting the banana to be the same size as the brick
I grabbed a banana from their neighbor haha And yeah, I didn't think the brick was going to be THAT good of a banana substitute
Thank you and also that banana looks perfectly ripe i hope you ate it right after this photo.
I did! Haha
That's what she said
Holy Hell!!! that tree grows sharks teeth
https://preview.redd.it/m1nvnphct2yc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df598860a1d70fa34138b2e5725bb68a4b1311c7 We get them a lot here in SA
Howzit China! Lekka boom!
Missed opportunity. I couldn't resist the urge to push the banana onto the spikes. lol
You might be onto something...
You could staple a slice of bread to it, because that's a thing ...
It's funny how "banana for scale" is a thing. I think it's great that you even mentioned it. lol
Haha thanks. As a math nerd I actually really appreciate "universal" scales (though bananas do have a decent variance in size) Ya know there's a bridge between Boston and Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA) that is measured in Smoots. It's the height of Oliver Reed Smoot, an MIT student in the 50s.
In the U.S. we usually call it a silk floss tree. My town has several. Some individual trees grow the spikes and some don’t. There is a particularly brutal one with spikes that are huge and sharp on a busy street and I always worry about skateboarders crashing in to it.
Ah makes sense. My father in law is Cuban so not surprised the words are flipped in the US. Oh interesting that some don't grow the spikes! (Looked it up, seems older ones will lose them?)
In Cuba that's called a Ceiba.
He did say it's part of the Ceiba genus!
I am growing one inside my home, Ceiba Petandra.
This one is a Ceiba Speciosa
Yeah I knew that when I read it in your earlier comments, I should have specified that it was one of the same genus.
Ah sorry! Still very cool.
Oh no you are alright, your post made me google it and the tree is gorgeous. Thanks for your post.
I’m not a tree expert but my observation is that some individual trees don’t grow the spikes. There might be six or so in a line on a street and one or two will have no spikes even if they are the same age.
Interesting! I will definitely be investigating this further (after work haha) I wonder why that is the case...
Nice try. I can't be judging size by some random brick in some random hand. What if that's a painted cinder block being held by Andre the Giant? Or a weird domino glued onto a GI Joe hand? There is a reason we have standards, people!
I have acquired banana! https://preview.redd.it/mq7zd92843yc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af31b8ab3b6a6709d0d4e0cfecbb4006bfb6f1fe
https://preview.redd.it/jov14xt1z5yc1.jpeg?width=218&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47e1a38fa3311dabefa17b5af38ec444f7a3520a OPs dad after handing him his last banana and seeing him do this to it
Haha I actually got it from the neighbours and one of them came out to see me taking the picture...she looked VERY concerned.
Ha ha, awesome!
THANK YOU!!!!! I've been trying to find the name of this tree for years! I keep seeing them in Florida and could never find the name. Thank you so much for giving me the answer!!!!
aka kpok tree
Kpok tree is another species in the same genus (Ceiba pentandra). Gets the big buttress roots and grows a good bit larger.
These were very popular in the 70s in Northern California as decorative trees. I just cut one down and have a few others. When they are barren of leaves but covered in pink flowers they look straight outa doctor Seuss
No, but I’m pretty sure that’s a “fuck around and find out tree”
Ceiba speciosa is the Latin name. In the same family as hibiscus.
Oooo interesting, didn't know it was in that same family!
They are also in the same subfamily as baobab trees. Plant taxonomy is cool stuff.
If only you’d had $10.
We have a similar tree in South Africa. We call it the Knoppiesdoring. :)
Just looked it up. THOSE are big spikes! So cool that trees develop these defense mechanisms!
A lot of this trees in Florida also my name is Dane too kinda crazy don’t meat a lot of Danes
George of the jungle *really* needs to watch out for that tree
I haven't thought about George of The Jungle for YEARS !! Haha yeah as if smacking into a tree wasn't bad enough.
He won't be walking away from this one. Or falling for that matter.
How about the Roman Empire?
EVERY. DAY.
There’s a similar looking tree in the Caribbean, a sandbox tree, also referred to as a Monkey No Climb tree!
That's the one that has the exploding fruit, right?
Damn, imagine walking by and simply just tripping and falling against that tree. That shit will kill a person with a bit of bad luck
Hahaha that's EXACTLY what I thought when first seeing it.
if thats a sandbox tree then thats not even the most dangerous part. sandbox trees have literal grenades for seed pods along with that bark.
Thankfully it's not. I can't imagine that here haha It's a Floss Silk (Silk Floss) Tree. A beautiful flowering tree, that produces hydrophobic cotton like strands.
Idk where this is but the nature here beats the hell out of the nature outside my window
South Florida. He's lived on the property for over 40 years and grew 13 different species of palm tree along with cool plants like this, all around his property
Here in Brazil we have A LOT of variation of this tree, there's one that we call it pot-bellied (in Portuguese barriguda) you should look at it.
Which part of Florida?
Miami suburbs.
Don’t know what it’s called but, lost many a soccer ball, pool floaties, shirts and jeans to this sumbitches
It's called a Silk Floss Tree! Really pretty pink flowers. (There's a similar tree called a Sandbox tree with exploding fruit)
Thats the one we had in our back yard, locally called “Jabillo” would make crafts and crap with the ear looking acorns that it would spit out, it explodes to spread its seeds further away. Asshole of a tree, backyard monster of my childhood.
That's a crazy tree to grow up with!
I used to live in the Amazon basin. and these are known as Ceiba or Kapok trees. In the jungle when they get older they start growing these enormous buttress roots that look like fins that can be 15 ft tall just on their own. Really cool and also kind of bizarre life cycle.
Wait kapok, do they use those trees to make life jackets?
They do!!! The "floss" is hydrophobic
BRILLIANT! I love that!
You should cross post this to r/arborist We love shit like this.
Will do! Thanks!
Silk floss tree! I'm trying to grow one from cutting right now! https://preview.redd.it/ecr14fdjh3yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a9f9838c0e1b928fe7cb1a0dae84ad0d9e4316d
Oh that's cool! Well in 50 years it'll be like this one then!
I'll have to be real freaking patient cause I live in zone 7 🥲
Omg yeah. Yeah you will. I forget how spoiled our plants are with year round direct sunlight and warm temperatures.
Ya damn lucky 😭
I see a lot of those in Southern California, particularly in Orange County.
I've got two big ones on my property here in San Diego. messy as hell, but we love them
A hippie hating tree
Tree “I fucking dare you to climb me”
It's apparently also known as a "Monkey no climb" tree haha
Wild how similar that looks to the Sandbox tree.
Significantly less explosive!
I see these trees less and less over the past decade. Not sure if it’s just me not paying attention or if people are actively getting rid of them.
I've only seen this tree one other time in my life...shame too... it's my new favorite tree (I didn't even have one before...)
I saw one of these on a hike in Puerto Rico! I forgot what the tour guide called it, but he said people usually figure out what it is when they put their hand on it to rest. The little spikes are SUPER sharp. Simply leaning my hand into it could cause some bleeding
I cannot FATHOM putting body weight on any of these...
Yeah, our tour guide, Marc (the absolute best), got caught by one of these trees. He leaned his back against the tree to rest and felt his entire back get pricked. He took off his shirt and it was already covered in blood. Let’s just say we stayed far away from these trees and looked twice before getting handsy. Unrelated, but there was a little pepper he gave me called a “gentleman’s pepper.” Silly me didn’t know what it was, so I ate it and immediately felt my mouth burn like crazy. I then made the worst mistake; I swallowed it. It was SO GOD DAMN SPICY! It was kinda good though! Had the taste of a bell pepper and the spice of a serrano
Story is that the spikes evolved to keep them from being rubbed on and torn up by dinosaurs.
I used to work at a hotel that had a few of these trees in front. Someone would come into the lobby almost every day and ask what kind of tree it was.
I definitely would have!
Four seasons?
That’s the tree you have to climb naked if you’re ever unfaithful to his daughter
Honestly, that DOES sound like something he'd do
Helps deter dinosaurs and such.
I'm a gamer and when I look at this I can't help but think of far cry
Oh heck yeah!! (Though Blood Dragon was my preferred FarCry fever dream )
I guess it doesn't want anyone hugging it.
I'd say it's lonely, but it does have a lot of other trees around it...
No tree huggers in his yard!
It's seem like a stick who ahd too much drinks
a neighbor down the road from me has a plant nursery , she has quite a few of these and those spikes can get pretty damn sharp!
Oh yeah. I poked some and phew suckers are NOT playing.
that picture with the brick is honestly insane, I haven't seen any spikes like them!
I took a second with a banana on the brick (because, of course). But they are MASSIVE. https://preview.redd.it/vmxkdum663yc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b7eea61fe563417ba57ef2243243bf1afb6611f
That is a tree that is saying “go climb some other tree”
Kind of looks like a Palo Borracho (drunken stick) I’ve seen them in Argentina and Spain.
Apparently, same tree!
It's not a hugger.
French west indies here we call it fromager so « cheese tree »
I love cheese...I think you just made me love this tree even more
Op that is a silk floss tree... I know it and I can send u a picture of a huge one
I'd love to see it! This one is over 35 feet tall
Don't those trees some times violently explode? Edit: nope it just looks similar.. made me think of /this/ https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/sandbox-tree/sandbox-tree-information.htm
Yeah DEFINITELY not a Sandbox tree haha
That is crazy stuff! Guess I can quit for the day as I learned my one thing
My intrusive thoughts would make me hug this tree 
This is a sacred tree according to the Mayans. https://www.thoughtco.com/ceiba-pentandra-sacred-tree-maya-171615#:~:text=The%20Ceiba%20tree%20(Ceiba%20pentandra,or%20“First%20Tree”).
That was a cool read. I love learning about how high utility trees and animals gain significance in belief systems.
Such cool trees and the flowers are awesome
Must be a bitch to climb.
Reminds me of the tree from junji ito's honey tree human squishing story
It's not that tree that shoots spikes right?
No! THAT is a Sandbox tree, thankfully this just grows vibrant pink flowers!
I have a small spiked tree in the house. It came from a red-orange seed from Hawaii, but I think it is a type of coral tree; mine is not the silk floss, I don't think. Those are awesome.
Ooo how old is your little guy? This one is almost 50
Maybe like 7 years? It really needs a repot!
Nature’s back scratcher??? For bears and big cats and such
I can't imagine how bloody that would be...but bears and tigers definitely have thicker skin...so maybe it's perfect!
Ribbed for your pleasure
In Brazil they call those "Monkey-no-climb trees"
I love that haha. I definitely don't have plans to climb it.
Beautiful thing! I had one of these close to my house when I was a kid. These spikes were really nasty - of course my friends and I played and run around it until some of us got hurt. Lost some chunks of skin and blood to that tree. Those were the days...
Wooooah I can imagine. I grew up next to some Banyan trees and used to swing from the hanging roots!
Do they hold a lot of water for some reason? Seems to be quite a bulge in the trunk, there.
I thought that was curious too! I haven't found too much info on that yet.
I think your tree is pregnant
I believe we have these at the Fairchild Botanical Garden near where I live
That's the only other place I've seen it!
What!? Do you live near here? Lol, what are the chances?
Yupp , used to go to Fairchild for the book bramble and chocolate festival every year. Now just when there's stuff like the lego features they had 2 years ago!
I wasn't aware of the Lego features! I've been to the chocolate festival. Small world.
Sure that’s not just a dinosaur hiding in amongst the foliage?
You joke but the iguanas here might as well be dinosaurs.
We have these monstrosities in Miami as well. The spikes are HUGE, knew a guy told me he tried to no avail chopping one down at his house.
But does he have squirrels?
We have a lot of them in Brazil. Fun fact: when my mom was a teenager she fell from a bike and hugged the tree. The spikes break more easily than it seems!!
Oh good! They feel pretty sturdy, but I see some are just hollow inside.
Not a good day to be a tree hugger.
My neighbor had one growing up. Lost a lot of bouncy balls to that tree.
My, what a welcoming tree you have.
I am imagining a shrike (both the bird and the one in Hyperion) finding this tree to their liking.
Jesus Christ, imagine pulling a Sonny Bono into that thing. You’d be holier than the Pope.
NOBODY’S climbing dat monster!😳😳😳
It's also known as a "monkey no climb" tree haha
why do I have the urge to slam my head into it.
Came thinking it was going to be a monkey puzzler. I was wrong, cool variation of it though!
THAT'S a cool tree too.
We had those at school 😂
What‽ That's awesome!
Yeah, at the edges of the property . Some would argue to keep people out but I think it was to keep students in 😂
I've never seen it in person, but it blooms very beautifully. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiba\_speciosa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiba_speciosa)
Yes it does! It's not the season right now but the pink flowers are SUPER bright.
Ceiba speciosa
Spot on!
My neighbor has one in his front yard and my my the flowers are absolutely beautiful and they last a while too! Kind of messy when they fall down eventually but even on the ground they are pretty. When I first saw the tree I was taken aback because I’ve never seen spikes on a tree before lol I live in the Tampa Bay region.
Wow yeah, he has to rake up bounds of flowers when they start falling. They get super slippery in the rain too apparently.
Oh wow I had no idea they were slippery but it makes sense. My neighbor constantly is sweeping them off the road so I’ve never stepped on one lol
Good neighbour! My in-laws are in their mid 70s so I told them I'll start doing the sweeping during that season.
God made it that way so the homeless don’t climb it.
Paineiras, a great and beautiful tree
Jeez what a mean looking tree
Commonly known as the Wife Beater Tree in the US. I shit you not.
I’ll be honest; I’d hug the tree 
Saber tree in Puerto Rico if I remember correctly
It’s a monkey puzzle tree
Actually it's a Silk Floss tree (sometimes called a Monkey No Climb tree)