What is this odd seed?

I don't have a camera, so I can't give you a picture, I'll try my best to describe it to you though. I can be very specific about where I got the seeds. Is this even in the right forum?

I found the seeds in Flordia, in DisneyWorld. There was this huge tree near the Finding Nemo Restaurant in there. I noticed the tree was growing white puffy cottonballs, but I didn't get to see the rest of the tree. (I'm half blind) On the ground were several of these puffballs. I picked one up, and there was one dark brown seed slightly smaller than a coffee bean in the middle of it. The cottonball was about five inches and felt like cottonwood cotton. I collected a few of these seeds and planted them in my hometown, Elba, NewYork. The seeds sprouted very quickly into a plant with two large triangular shaped leaves. They were about two inches tall. One day I get home and they're all dead. Go figure. I would love to find out what these seeds were. I knew they didn't stand a chance with our climate and soil, but I'm still crushed they died. Can anyone help me find out what the seeds were?

Hi KelpLynn, I would post your question in the Plant & Tree Identification forum, that's the right place for it and you'll get more help there. Without a picture there's no guarantee someone will recognize it, but the folks over there are pretty good so it wouldn't surprise me if someone knows what it is. Here's a link for that forum in case you don't know where it is: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/plantid/all/

Check out Kapok Ceiba pentandra.

Resin

Lynn.

I go to Disney, it is not too far away from home. They have Ceiba trees there and the seed you describe is an exact match.

I sent a handful of seeds to a fellow DG'er in the UK, here is what his seedling look like>

thanks for the replies everyone, they were extremely helpful. I think I'll move this to the Plant and Tree ID forum.