Pseudobombax ellipticum

Shaving Brush Tree

Highlight Month:
June

Nativity:

Mexico to Guatemala

Growth Habit:

This is a small tree – to 20 feet in cultivation with thick stems and sometimes even forming a swollen base or caudex. It is deciduous in winter and flowers before the large, green leaves are produced in early summer.

Growing Requirements:

Somewhat tolerant of light frosts, the shaving brush tree does best in subtropical or tropical zones. It can be grown as a potted specimen where it will be more likely to form a caudex.

Features:

large – 4 inches or more – flowers have sturdy greenish brown petals that curl below the showy cluster of many stamens. There are both pink and white forms.

Where at Lotusland:

Cycad garden behind the planting of Dioon sonorense.

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