Editing Ochroma (section)

== Biology ==
[[file:Ochroma pyramidalis MS 3425.jpg|thumb|right|Balsa on [[Bota Hill]], [[Limbe Botanical Garden]], [[Cameroon]]]]

A member of the mallow family, ''Ochroma pyramidale'' is native from southern Mexico to southern Brazil, but can now be found in many other countries (Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Thailand, Solomon Islands). It is a [[Pioneer species|pioneer plant]], which establishes itself in clearings in forests, either man-made or where trees have fallen, or in abandoned agricultural fields. It grows extremely rapidly, up to {{convert|27|m}} in 10–15 years. The speed of growth accounts for the lightness of the wood, which has a lower density than [[Cork (material)|cork]]. Trees generally do not live beyond 30 to 40 years.<ref name=AngierZiegler2011>{{Cite journal|last1=Angier|first1=N.|last2=Ziegler|first2=C.|year=2011|title=Treetop happy hour|journal=National Geographic|volume=219|issue=5|pages=130–143|name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

Flowers are produced from the third year onwards, typically at the end of the rainy season when few other trees are in flower. The large flowers,  up to twenty cm (eight inches) in diameter,<ref>{{cite book | last1= Condit | first1= Richard |last2= Perez | first2= Rolando | last3= Daguerre | first3= Nefertaris | date= 2011 | title= Trees of Panama and Costa Rica | location= Princeton, N.J. | publisher= Princeton Univ. Press | pages=276-277 | ISBN = 978-0-691-14710-9 }}</ref> open in the late afternoon and remain open overnight. Each may contain a pool of nectar up to {{convert|2.5|cm}} deep. Daytime pollinators include [[capuchin monkey]]s. However, most pollination occurs at night. The main pollinators were once thought to be bats, but recent evidence suggests that two nocturnal arboreal mammals, the [[kinkajou]] and the [[olingo]], may be the primary pollinators.<ref name=AngierZiegler2011/>

It is [[evergreen]] or dry-season [[deciduous]], with large {{convert|30|to|40|cm}}, weakly [[Leaf shape|palmately]] lobed leaves.

Being a deciduous [[angiosperm]], balsa is classified as a [[hardwood]] despite the wood itself being very soft; it is the softest commercial hardwood.