This Asian tropical tree has a straight tall trunk and its leaves are deciduous in winter.

Seeds are numerous, long, ovoid, black or gray in colour and packed in white cotton.

The tree is widely planted in southeastern Asian countries and regions (such as in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, southern China and Taiwan, etc.).

According to Chinese historical record, the king of Nam Yuet (located in the southern China and northern Vietnam nowadays), Zhao Tuo, gave a tree to the emperor of the Han dynasty in the 2nd century BC.

This tree is commonly known as Let-pan (Burmese language: လက်ပံ), semal (Hindi: सेमल), shimul (Bengali: শিমুল) or ximolu (Assamese: শিমলু) in India.

This tree is quite common in New Delhi although it doesn't reach its full size of 60m there because of the semi arid climate.

Perhaps due to subtropical climate and heavy rainfalls, it is found in dense populations throughout the Northeast India.

[5][page needed] The white fluffy fibres are carded into thread and woven into textiles in Nepal and India.