Apeiba tibourbou

Apeiba tibourbou is a medium-sized fast-growing tree of the Malvaceae family (formerly Tiliaceae), widespread in lowland tropical forests of Central and South America. Plants reach 10 to 20 metres in height, with a slender straight trunk and a rounded, open crown; the inner bark is fibrous and was historically used for cordage. Leaves are alternate, simple, broadly ovate to oblong, 10 to 25 centimetres long, with serrate margins, three to five basal veins, and densely stellate-pubescent surfaces that give them a velvety feel. Flowers are showy, 3 to 5 centimetres across, with five bright yellow petals and a dense central tuft of numerous yellow stamens, borne singly or in few-flowered cymes. The most distinctive feature is the fruit: a flattened-globose, dark brown to black capsule 5 to 10 centimetres across, densely covered with stiff bristly hairs, resembling a sea urchin and giving the tree its local names such as 'peine de mico' or monkey-comb.