Attaining a height of 5-6 metres, the NATIVE KAPOK is a slender deciduous shrub.

Native Kapok flower - Cochiospermum gillivraei at Rex Lookout - Photo by Alex Pawlow

It can be seen clinging precariously to the hillsides along the Captain Cook Highway, where the blue waters of the Coral Sea are a perfect backdrop for the large golden yellow flowers.

Flowers appear during spring and summer. The decorative fruits are large and have a parchment like covering composed of two layers which split at maturity. The globular capsule now displays alternatively light and dark segments. Black seeds surrounded by a kapok-like material are encased in each segment.

Seeds take up to three months to germinate.