I think this is the most interesting Tree on the walk I take every day. I think it might be a cotton silk tree. But I’m not sure. When the seedlings explode it looks like somebody had a pillow fight because there’s cotton everywhere. Really fluffy cotton balls. And the tree has the most beautiful color bark. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.
Min says it’s Floss Silk tree. One of my favorite trees around this area. 
Erica says: We call that the sausage tree
And Michael says:
They have some very nice examples at the Huntington Gardens and the LA Arboretum. They used to have them planted around the Glendale Galleria. I have one that I started from a seed from the Huntington one in front of the mansion and several others. The one in your photo is probably Ceiba speciosa (silk floss as others have said) the world tree one is Ceiba pentandra, which might be what is in front of the mansion but it is difficult to tell since they grow differently outside the tropics. The attached photo is the trunk of my relatively young C. speciosa.
Dewdrop World 