What in the heck is this?

Four things caught my attention about this tree...

It has big tropical-looking flowers. It has big wads of fluffy cotton stuff in it with seeds.



It's Autumn and it's loaded with all these flowers.



It has pointy things. I would not want to land in it while skydiving naked.


The fluffy stuff is reeeally soft and silky. I wasn't there to see where the fluffy stuff came from. But I'm guessing that the green pods are packed tight with this stuff and burst out like popcorn. The wind easily carries a 3" ball with its packet of seeds.



I tossed my camera up into the tree to knock some of these wads out (yes I did, several times, though in its soft protective case) and collected about 30 seeds to try to germinate. (Here, hand me your camera.)

Anyway, if you know the name of this tree, tell me! This is just so bizarre. I've never seen one before. It's beautiful.