Green Pajama Stripe Look of Shaving Brush Tree Pseudobombax ellipticum

Summary: Shaving Brush Tree Pseudobombax ellipticum is a New World deciduous tree native to Mexico and Central America. Showy flowers have pink or white stamens.

shaving brush look of Shaving Brush Tree's flower: Maria do Carmo M. Iannacone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pseudobombax ellipticum is a New World tree native to southern North America, ranging from Mexico southeastward to the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Thriving in subtropical and tropical climates, Pseudobombax ellipticum has been introduced successfully as an ornamental tree outside of native homelands. In Australia, Pseudobombax ellipticum dramatizes landscape of Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Toowong, southeastern Queensland, northeastern Australia. In the United States, the deciduous (Latin: deciduus, “that which falls off”) tree especially favors Florida and Hawaii but also grows in amenable states such as California and Texas.

Pseudobombax ellipticum is known commonly in English as Shaving Brush or Shaving Brush Tree.

Shaving Brush Trees grow natively in dry and rocky woodland habitats with well-drained soil. As a drought tolerant and cold sensitive tree, Shaving Brush enjoys full to partial sunniness in nearly frost-free ecosystems.

green pajama-like stripes of Shaving Brush Tree -- Pseudobombax ellipticum in Huntington Library Desert Garden: Pamela J. Eisenberg from Anaheim USA, via Wikimedia Commons

With a naturally fast growth rate, Shaving Brush Trees may soar in ideal habitats to heights of over 60 feet (18 meters) and may attain trunk diameters of over 4 feet (1.2 meters). Outside of native range, Shaving Brush Trees evince less dramatic growth, with heights often maximizing between 20 to 40 feet (6 to 12 meters).

The arboreal silhouette presents a trunk typically swollen at the base and low, irregular branching with a spreading, wide canopy.

Smoothly textured grey bark is patterned with white-framed green stripes.

Flowers appear dramatically while branches are leafless. Long buds open with flowers curling tightly backward to spotlight conspicuous, long stamens, tracing a shape reminiscent of a shaving brush. Pale orange-to-reddish pink flowers set off vivid, reddish-pink stamens while greenish white flowers lightly contrast with startlingly white stamens.

Appearing as elongated capsules, large, leathery fruits contain an abundance of seeds.

The ending of flowering signals the beginning of foliage as leaves emerge as five elliptical, or oval, leaflets on each stem. Burgundy of youth matures to dark green.

Traditional uses of Shaving Brush Tree include culinary by roasting or toasting seeds; household for carving wood into bowls and cutting for fuel; and medicinal with bark and leaves for treating toothaches.

Outside of its homelands, Shaving Brush Tree enchants gardeners and plant lovers by way of indoor and outdoor plantings.

Shaving Brush Trees contribute visual appeal to xerophytic, or desert, gardens.

The exotic-looking tree responds easily to the miniature, sculpted landscape of bonsai gardening.

Cultivated in containers, Shaving Brush Trees decorate indoor and outdoor environments with heights attractively minimized to around 3 feet (0.9 meters).

pink variety of Shaving Brush Tree flower, Harry P. Leu Gardens, Orlando, Florida: Jfduffek, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

shaving brush look of Shaving Brush Tree's flower: Maria do Carmo M. Iannacone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pseudobombax_ellipticum_album.jpg

pink variety of Shaving Brush Tree flower, Harry P. Leu Gardens, Orlando, Orange County, central Florida: Jfduffek, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaving_Brush_Tree.jpg?uselang=nl

Shaving Brush Tree (Pseudobombax ellipticum) at Huntington Library Desert Garden, May 2009: Pamela J. Eisenberg from Anaheim USA, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pseudobombax_ellipticum,_Huntington.jpg?uselang=nl