mapou

From Haitian Creole.

mapou (plural mapous)

1. On Haiti, the kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra.
   • 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 75:

     “They found him beneath a great mapou tree, and one by one he called for his grandchildren, including Max's father.”

   • 2013, Amy Wilentz, Farewell, Fred Voodoo, Simon & Schuster, page 78:

     The mapou belongs to Legba, the master of the crossroads, one of the most important gods in the pantheon, Apollo to Ogoun's Ares.

   • 2015, Madison Smartt Bell, Soul in a Bottle:

     It was calm and surprisingly cool in the mapou grove.