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Huatulco

The Street Names of La Crucecita

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By Julie Etra

The cross streets of La Crucecita are almost entirely named for trees, and the vertical streets for flowering plants. Some are scientific names, some are common names, some are native species – the origins of some are not clear. For the most part, the names were chosen from the species of the dominant native plant community along the coast, known as selva seca (dry jungle). Selva seca is a winter deciduous (caducifolio) tropical forest. The decision to name the streets for native plants was apparently made by Juan Carlos Campillo Ojeda, an engineer working for FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo) at the time the Bays of Huatulco resort was developed in the 1980s.

Bahías de Huatulco is the last of five federally planned resorts developed by FONATUR, which was created in 1964 to promote tourism through, among other things, resorts like Huatulco. The five major resorts developed by FONATUR are Cancun, Loreto, Los Cabos, Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo, and Huatulco. FONATUR has recently been relieved of its custodial responsibilities for Huatulco, which now falls under the aegis of the state and municipal governments.

The Grid

La Crucecita, even though a relatively new town (1985), was not laid out on a precisely north-south axis; the street grid runs northwest/southeast beside Blvd Chahue as it runs up to Route 200. It is easier, however, to think of the streets as being north-south and east-west. The grid is centered around the main square (zocalo) with its prominent kiosk, and fronts the town church, the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y de la Santa Cruz.

There are four major north-south streets – Jazmin on the west (two-way), Gardenia on the west side of the zocalo (one-way south), Bugambilia on the east side of the zocalo (one-way north), and Carrizal on the east (one-way south). There are 16 east-west streets, and then there a few small streets that continue bigger streets or have names of their own.

The Street Names, Explained

Of course, walking is an outdoor sport, and so you should be thinking of the actual trees that the street names represent. The following is a very brief summary of the plant characteristics, a little natural history, and some interesting factoids. For the nerdily inclined readers of The Eye who are interested in botany, the common name of the tree, shrub, or flower is followed by the scientific name – Genus – followed by the name of the species. When genus is followed by the word “species,” it means that there is more than one species or type.

North-South Streets (West to East)

These streets are all named for ornamental plants.

Violetas (Viola species). This refers to violets. The Violaceae family does not have any native representatives on the coast, as the climate is too hot, nor have I (yet) seen any ornamental plants in the local nurseries. If you go farther north and higher up, the Ponderosa violet (Viola umbraticola) ranges from New Mexico in the U.S. to the state of Tlaxcala, east of Mexico City.

Plumbago (Plumbago species). This is a very common tropical ornamental plant with numerous species. The classic blue plumbago’s scientific name is Plumbago auriculata. It is native to South Africa (as is the calla lily, made famous by Diego Rivera, and agapanthus, the Lily of the Nile); all three are common around Huatulco. Plumbago does well in clay pots (macetas) and attracts pollinators, such as butterflies and bees, but all parts, including the bark, fruit, pollen, roots, sap, and seeds irritate the skin and eyes and can be harmful if ingested.

Jazmin (Jasminum grandiflorum is the most commonly planted), or jasmine in English. This vine is native to southern Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, northeast Africa, and the Yunnan and Sichuan regions of China, although it grows well in many tropical and semi tropical climates. Its flowers are white and aromatic, and the vine appears delicate.

Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides). This aromatic, evergreen, ornamental shrub is spelled just as it is in English. A fun factoid, it is in the same family with coffee. It is a small shrub and does well in macetas. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Pacific Islands, and Australia.

Bugambilia (Bougainvillea glabra). English speakers call and spell it by its scientific name Bougainvillea. This plant is native to Brazil, and it has an interesting French connection. It was first described by Philibert Commerçon, who was the first botanist sponsored by a national government to accompany an exploratory voyage. The voyage, intended to circumnavigate the globe, was led by the French admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville, so the newly-discovered plant was named for him. The name was included in the Genera Plantarum, the first published classification of plant materials, put together by the French botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789; the name was finally codified in the 1930s in the Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, the reference work maintained by Kew Gardens outside London.

Another interesting story – it is possible that the first European to describe this plant was actually the botanical expert Jeanne Baret, Commerçon’s partner and assistant. Because women were not allowed on ships, she disguised herself as a man and thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. Women were at the time forbidden to be botanists, as plants are primarily identified and described by their reproductive parts, and that was considered scandalous.

Bugambilias thrive in full sun and sandy, well-drained soils. The colorful petals are not petals at all but bracts, or modified leaves; the central flower itself is small and inconspicuous. It has been cultivated for decades, with over 300 varieties available. This versatile, thorned plant can be pruned as a hedge, bush, or tree. Here in Huatulco, I planted two called sorpresa (surprise) since bracts are both pink and white. Although it is a tough plant, like many tropical ornamental plants, it is vulnerable to predation by leaf-cutting ants, known as hormigas arrieras, or muleteers, since they carry a burden of chewed off bracts and leaves back to their nests.

Carrizal means “place where the carrizos grow,” which would be a wetland or floodplain. And what indeed is carrizo? This is a type of large, stout grass and may have referred to several different plants, including grasses, rushes, cattails, and bulrushes, found primarily along riverine or riparian areas. Was this area indeed at some point a wetland? Not from what I have seen and read. It is considered an invasive plant in the U.S., controlled by fire and flooding along the Rio Grande.

East-West Streets (South to North)

Acacia (Acacia species). Acacias are a large group of trees and shrubs in the pea family, characterized by fern-like leaves and small ball-like white or yellow flowers. Plants in the pea family generally have a pea-like pod called a vaina in Spanish. There are a number of native species in Huatulco; some have spines, like the common Acacia cornigera (cuernitos, or “little horns”), which occurs at slightly higher elevation than the coast. This tree has prominent hollow spines in which resides a tiny ant with a nasty bite; they protect the tree from other plant-eating predators (herbivores) while receiving nutrition from the tree.

Ceiba (Ceiba pentandra). The ceiba tree, aka kapok, is in the same family with the pochote and the bailador (dancer), which we know in English as the shaving brush tree. In some places in Mexico, the ceiba is also known as pochote, but botanists see them as distinct in both genus and species, although both are in the Malvaceae family (see Pochote below).

The ceiba tree described here is a huge tree upon maturity, with a spiny, stout, single trunk, large fruits with tasty corn-like kernels/seeds that mature into a cotton-like fluff. The leaves are palm shaped. It was sacred to the Maya of eastern Mexico and Central America, as they believed it connected the heavens to the underworld through the earth. Along with the Guanacaste, this is one of the first trees you see in the median when approaching Huatulco from Highway 200. It is bat-pollinated and can live for hundreds of years. It is the national tree of Guatemala.

Cocotillo. I could not find a plant that corresponds to this common name, although it can be argued that it means “cultivated coconut.” Coco for “coconut” and tillado for “tilled” or “cultivated.” Might be a stretch.

Colorin (Erythrina coralloides). Like the acacia, this plant is in the pea family. It has a lovely almost tubular red flower that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. The seeds are very poisonous.

Chacah (Bursera simaruba). Chacah is the Mayan name for this tree, aka gumbo limbo, with its peeling bark. This is a very interesting family of trees represented by 13 species in the Cacaluta watershed. They can often be distinguished by their peeling bark and berry-like red fruits, and large featherlike leaves. They are easily spotted in the landscape. The whimsical Oaxacan sculptures known as alebrije are from a related species, copal; the word copal originates from its Náhuatl name Copalquahuitl.

Flamboyan (Caesalpinia pulcherrima or Delonix regia). Like many common names, this one could be referring to two different plants. I am assuming it is the Caesalpinia pulcherrima, also known by another common name, tabachin. This colorful native tree has red/orange flowers and fern-like leaves, a long pea-pod fruit, as it is in the pea family. It attracts many pollinating insects and birds.

Guamuchil (Pithecelobium dulce). As the species name implies, this pea-family native has a sweet (dulce) fruit, pinkish on the inside, which attracts many species of birds, squirrels, and insects. It tends to grow near drainages and riparian areas. It can be found growing next to the huaje (Leucaena leucocephala) trees across the street from the Bladu’Yú restaurant near the entrance to Chahue beach.

Guanacastle (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). Also spelled guanacaste, this is a very large tree with a huge, broad, saucer-shaped canopy seen when entering La Crucecita south from Highway 200. It has a smooth bark, and unique ear-shaped fruits. With difficulty the seeds can be removed from the fruit and ground to produce a flour and then baked into delicious cookies (if you have a lot of free time). It is illegal to harvest here without a permit, and the wood can only be obtained through supposedly legal means and after natural senescence. The wood is beautiful, very hard, and bug resistant, even to termites. When cut and sanded it produces a somewhat toxic sawdust. It is the national tree of Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Guarumbo (Cecropia obtusifolia). Although there is one in the garden of the Binniguenda hotel in Santa Cruz, this tree generally begins to appear in the next ecosystem north and away from the coast at a higher elevation, where vegetation is tropical and green all year (siempre verde = always green, like the Italian or Mediterranean cypress, Cupressus sempervirens). For house plant fans, it looks like a schefflera on steroids; if you visit Hagia Sofia or Pluma Hidalgo, you will see the tree shortly after leaving Santa María Huatulco on your way north. It is tall, with large leaves, and is easily distinguished from the surrounding landscape.

Macuitle. This appears to be a Hispanicized version of the Náhuatl word macuahuitl, which was a weapon of war, a wooden club with several embedded obsidian blades; the name means “hand-wood.” It was effectively used by the Mexica (Aztecs) against the invading Spaniards, as chronicled by Bernal Díaz de Castillo, a soldier in the army of Hernán Cortés, and the author of Historia Verdadura de la Conquista de la Nueva España (The True History of the Conquest of New Spain). Although I do not find that it corresponds to a particular tree, it was no doubt made of hardwood. According to Díaz and several other commentators, Aztec warriors could kill a horse with a single slash of the macuahuitl.

Macuil (Handroanthus impetiginosus, Tabebuia chrysantha, Tabebuia rosea). Ay yay yay yay. There are at least three of these magnificent flowering trees native to the area, all known as macuil, also spelled maquil, and all members of the Bignoniaceae family. They bloom at different times, with the yellow flowering trees lining Blvd Benito Juarez in the vicinity of La Bocana in January, and the pink/purplish flowering tree (Tabebuia rosea) dominating in March. The bright pink Handroanthus impetiginosus blooms in late October to mid-November. It is the national tree of Paraguay. All of them attract birds, particularly orioles.

Ocotillo (Cordia eleagnoides). This tree is locally known by another common name, parota, and is not to be confused with the cactus-like plants of the southwestern deserts of the United States of America. This native, moderate-sized tree lines Benito Juarez Blvd. east of La Crucecita from approximately Balcones de Tangolunda to La Bocana. It has a broad canopy with white flowers, and blooms twice a year. The wood, sometimes known as bocote, is hard, heavy, and insect resistant and is used in construction, particularly for the support structures of palapas.

Palma Real (Roystonea regia). As its common Spanish name implies, we know this tree as the royal palm, a tall, stately palm with a whitish trunk. It is native to the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, and parts of Central America. It is the national tree of Cuba.

Palo Verde (Parkinsonia aculeata). The name means “green stick” in Spanish. Here we go again with confusing common names. Referring to my bible, Cátalogo de Nombres Vulgares y Cientificos de Plantas Mexicanas by Maximino Martínez (México: Fondo de Cultura Económico, 1979), there are eight trees that correspond to this name. The La Crucecita street name Palo Verde is most probably the one that grows in hot areas of Oaxaca, and not the one commonly found in southwestern United States. What the species have in common are the green trunks and branches, where photosynthesis occurs, providing essential carbohydrates (sugars) when the leaves drop from this deciduous plant.

Pochote (Ceiba aesculifolia). The multiple stemmed trunks have spines, but they are not as prominent as those of the ceiba. The flowers are large and before they emerge, the buds resemble those of the shaving brush tree, to which it is related.

Sabali. This was a tough one. Saba or sabal is a type of fan palm tree, or palmetto, found in tropical and subtropical climates (South Carolina, US, is called “The Palmetto State”). Sabalí, with an accent over the ‘i’, may be referring to a species of fig, or Ficus. The street name is NOT Sábila, so forgive me while I digress – you are sure to encounter sábila plants in Huatulco.

Sábila is Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis miller), native to the Arabian Peninsula but happy in many tropical surroundings. “Aloe” comes from the Arabic alloeh, which means “bitter and shiny substance,” or from the Hebrew אוהלים ahalim, the aloes mentioned in the Old Testament. Aloe vera has medicinal properties and is applied externally to heal skin due to its mucilaginous texture and antiseptic properties. Taken internally it may improve digestion and support healthy blood sugar levels, but it can also cause digestive problems. It can also be used to seal cuttings of woody tropical plants, prolonging their storage, until they can be propagated directly in soil or in water.

Note: Mostly unrelated, but I wonder whether readers of The Eye have noticed that the National Park (Parque Nacional) has a new name. Recently big green signs have appeared along Highway 200 and other major thoroughfares with the new name for the park, Ricardo Flores Magón. Flores Magón was a well-known anarchist, socialist, activist, writer, and a major figure in the Mexican Revolution. Look him up.

Huatulco

Huatulco’s Selva Seca

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By Julie Etra

How many times have you heard a newbie’s surprise upon arriving in Huatulco in the dry season, which corresponds with the high tourist season, wondering what happened to the lush tropical green jungle shown on glossy brochures and websites?

What is the Selva Seca?

Welcome to the selva seca, the “dry jungle.” Huatulco has a caducifolio, or deciduous, ecosystem, an unusual semi-tropical forest in which most trees lose their leaves. Although not unique to Mexico, it is best represented in this country, and it occurs in a number of Mexican states, in particular along our beautiful Oaxacan coast. The selva seca occupies approximately 11.7% (226,898 km²) of the total area of Mexico, along the Pacific coast from southern Sonora and southwestern Chihuahua to Chiapas, continuing to Tehuantepec with small portions in the extreme south of the Baja California Peninsula and in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula. Selvas secas are generally found from sea level up to 1,500 meters, and occasionally to 1,900 meters above sea level in very dry areas.

The selva seca is described as warm-subhumid tropical – it gets HOT. As any Huatulqueño can attest, this warm climate has an average annual temperature of 27ºC (80.6ºF), a bit lower in the ‘winter’ and dry months, with approximately 330 sunny days a year. The rainy season, which dumps an average of 100 cm (over 39 inches), ends around November/December, and starts again in late May/June, preceded by a very hot, humid, and buggy period in mid-to-late April until the rains begin. Soils are typically rocky, with a poorly developed layer of organic matter.

This ecosystem can be further divided into subcategories; the selva seca on the Oaxacan coast, about 66,492 sq. km (about 24,670 sq. mi.), is described as selva baja caducifolia or selva baja espinosa caducifolia, with espinosa meaning “spiny,” as we do have a number of spiny plants and many species of cactus. In English it is also referred to as low (the baja part) deciduous forest, tropical deciduous forest, low deciduous forest, or sub-humid forest. These forests are considered evergreen when less than 25% of the species lose their leaves, sub-evergreen when 25 to 50% of the species lose their leaves, sub-deciduous (50 to 75% of the species lose their leaves) or deciduous (more than 75% of the species lose their leaves). Since more than 75% of the coastal trees lose their leaves, the coast of Oaxaca is best defined in English as deciduous.

Plant Life of the Selva Seca

This forest has approximately 6,000 species of plants, of which almost 40 are endemic, meaning they are only found in these ecosystems and are adapted to drought.

The height of the dominant woody vegetation is often 15 meters or less (under 50 feet) for the selva baja. In addition to trees, this ecosystem supports a variety of shrubs, lianas (vines), epiphytes (the pinkish pineapple-like piñuela seen in the planting beds of many of the medians on major roads) and agaves.

Small trees include the huaje or guaje (Leucaena leucocephala), for which Oaxaca was named (it means “place where the huaje grows”), which produces a pea-like pod replete with peas. Some trees like the cuachalalá or cuachalalate (Amphipterygium adstringens), whose bark is used for medicinal purposes, drop their leaves at the very beginning of the dry season – snowbirds never get to see the leaves.

The guanacastle or guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), Huatulco’s magnificent huge shade tree, welcomes visitors and residents en route from highway 200 to Huatulco, along the median just south of the Fonatur logo. In early to mid-April, the guanacastles exhibit new bright green leafy growth, having detected the increase in ambient humidity.

There are at least five species of copal (Bursera spp.), all of which drop their leaves in winter. One species, known commonly as mulato, has the gorgeous flakey red bark so visually outstanding in the native forest. Copal trees produces a resin which hardens into incense used in spiritual ceremonies for centuries; the bark apparently also produced pigments for painting the ancient ruins of Mexico. Most people who visit Mexico, however, will encounter the wood of a copal tree when they purchase an alebrije, the colorful, fanciful figures carved and painted by Mexical folk artists.

What Stays Green in the Selva Seca?

Of course, not all our native species fall into the 75% deciduous category (by the way, coconut palms are not native, but we do have a native palm, the sabal Mexicana whose pencas (fronds) are used in palapa construction). Riparian corridors stay green, the shrubby ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens or madcogalii), with its white or red flowers, respectively, is barely deciduous, and the ceiba tree, also called pochote, can look a little ratty, but not for long.

The Best of the Selva Seca

What I especially love about the dry season is the number of trees that flower! We have three species of macuil (Tabebuia rosea) with their big, showy purple, pink, and yellow flowers, the guayacán (Guaiaccum coulteri)with its yellow-centered purple flowers, and the magnificent cojón de caballo or cojón de toro (Tabernaemontana donnell-smithii), its large yellow flower appearing early in the winter, contrasting with its smooth white/silvery bark. Translated, as you might guess, as the horse- or bull-ball tree, it is named for the shape of its fruit, which grows in pairs.

The final benefit of being in the selva seca in the dry season is the birdlife, both residents and winter migrants. They are so much easier to see and identify in the less leafy landscape, making this area a winter birder’s paradise!

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Editor’s Letter

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By Jane Bauer

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.”
Herman Hesse, Bäume: Betrachtungen und Gedichte

What a challenging time this has been! Circumstances have made many of us reflect on our lives. Perhaps you have questioned how you spend your time and what really matters. What changes will you make? What is the intention of your life?

This month our writers explore the theme of trees.

As you read this, what is the tree that is closest to you? Contemplate it for a few minutes. How long has it been there? Was it planted by someone or did it spring up by the grace of nature? Run your fingertips along its bark. How do its branches reach- extending out like open arms for a hug or like a child on tiptoes trying to touch the sky? What is the shape and color of the leaves? Press one to your check and feel its texture.

Now imagine its roots reaching underground and connecting to the next closest tree. What information or secret are they sharing?

You don’t need to me to tell you how necessary trees are to our survival- we all learn it as children and yet we seem to forget. We are an entire species hell bent on self-destruction. We are literally cutting down the very things that allow us to breathe- somewhat ironically as a virus that affects the respiratory system fills us with fear and has us staying indoors and wearing face masks.

Last week when we had the alarming earthquake that made our homes sway and, dishes and mirrors crash to the floor, I couldn’t help but notice that the trees remained sturdy. From the tallest leaning palm along the boulevard to the giant guanacastles that are peppered through Huatulco, their roots held firm and they stood.

I opened this editorial by commenting on what a challenging time this has been. I should have added… for humans. The world is actually ok. It is humanity that is out of sync with nature. During quarantine I have been thinking about a whale. I imagine him deep in the ocean, large and magnificent. I think of the ships that have stopped crossing above him and I hope he is enjoying the brief respite from our symphony of industry.

Go to the tree closest to you. Touch it. Listen to it. Learn from it.

See you next month,

Jane

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The Ahuehuete, Mexico’s National Tree

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By Julie Etra

Designated the National Tree of Mexico in 1921, officially confirmed in 1924, the evergreen ahuehuete tree has a complex linguistic background. Taxodium mucronatum, the ahuehuete tree or Montezuma bald cypress, is called ahuehetl in náhuatl, which means “water drum” or “old water” (atl = “water” and hueheutl = “old”). The “old” part refers to the epiphytes that festoon the ahuehuete tree; these are lichens or bromeliads often attached to and hanging from the branches.

The ahuehuete also has numerous common names associated with the indigenous language of the particular area where it is growing; for example, in Oaxaca it is known as tnuyucu or t-nuyucul in Mixteca and yagaguichiciña in Zapotec. It is related to the giant sequoias of northern California as well as the bald cypress found in the southeastern United States. The Spaniards named the tree sabino as it resembled a pine from their mother country.

The ahuehuete grows throughout Mexico, but its complete range runs from southern Texas to Guatemala; it is found in a wide range of climates, from the semi-hot to temperate to cold. It is associated with water – riparian (riverbank) areas, springs, or high groundwater, and is remarkably fast growing. Rate of growth can be up to six feet per year on good soils, but will grow fast even under drought conditions. It has an unusually thick trunk toward the base, even on young trees. In maturity, it has a broad-topped, spreading shape.

Perhaps some readers of The Eye have had the opportunity to visit the Tule Tree (El Árbol del Tule), the enormous specimen of Mexico’s national tree in Santa María del Tule on the outskirts of Oaxaca City (see Alvin Starkman’s article elsewhere in this issue). At 48 meters (over 157 feet) in circumference, its trunk is the largest of any known tree in the world, although the tree is only 43 meters (about 141 feet) in height. It is also one of the oldest trees on the planet, at about 2000 years old according to carbon dating.

But where is the water it’s supposed to need? Like the ancient Lago del México, the location of modern CDMX (and ancient Tenochtitlan), there used to be a lake at Santa María del Tule; it was surrounded by marshes, supporting lush growth of bulrushes and cypresses. Hence the name “Tule,” the common Mexican name for the long-gone bulrush. In recent archaeological excavations at Tlapacoya II, in the state of México, an ahuehuete trunk was located in a layer carbon-dated as being 23,150 +/- 950 years old, indicating ancient riparian forests that no longer exist.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards and the subsequent conquest, the Mexica group of Aztecs cultivated the trees as ornamental and shade plantings in the center of their chinampas (floating agricultural systems) and along pathways throughout the Basin of Mexico, which included six lakes.

Designated the National Tree of Mexico in 1921, officially confirmed in 1924, the evergreen ahuehuete tree has a complex linguistic background. Taxodium mucronatum, the ahuehuete tree or Montezuma bald cypress, is called ahuehetl in náhuatl, which means “water drum” or “old water” (atl = “water” and hueheutl = “old”). The “old” part refers to the epiphytes that festoon the ahuehuete tree; these are lichens or bromeliads often attached to and hanging from the branches.

The ahuehuete also has numerous common names associated with the indigenous language of the particular area where it is growing; for example, in Oaxaca it is known as tnuyucu or t-nuyucul in Mixteca and yagaguichiciña in Zapotec. It is related to the giant sequoias of northern California as well as the bald cypress found in the southeastern United States. The Spaniards named the tree sabino as it resembled a pine from their mother country.

The ahuehuete grows throughout Mexico, but its complete range runs from southern Texas to Guatemala; it is found in a wide range of climates, from the semi-hot to temperate to cold. It is associated with water – riparian (riverbank) areas, springs, or high groundwater, and is remarkably fast growing. Rate of growth can be up to six feet per year on good soils, but will grow fast even under drought conditions. It has an unusually thick trunk toward the base, even on young trees. In maturity, it has a broad-topped, spreading shape.

Perhaps some readers of The Eye have had the opportunity to visit the Tule Tree (El Árbol del Tule), the enormous specimen of Mexico’s national tree in Santa María del Tule on the outskirts of Oaxaca City (see Alvin Starkman’s article elsewhere in this issue). At 48 meters (over 157 feet) in circumference, its trunk is the largest of any known tree in the world, although the tree is only 43 meters (about 141 feet) in height. It is also one of the oldest trees on the planet, at about 2000 years old according to carbon dating.

But where is the water it’s supposed to need? Like the ancient Lago del México, the location of modern CDMX (and ancient Tenochtitlan), there used to be a lake at Santa María del Tule; it was surrounded by marshes, supporting lush growth of bulrushes and cypresses. Hence the name “Tule,” the common Mexican name for the long-gone bulrush. In recent archaeological excavations at Tlapacoya II, in the state of México, an ahuehuete trunk was located in a layer carbon-dated as being 23,150 +/- 950 years old, indicating ancient riparian forests that no longer exist.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards and the subsequent conquest, the Mexica group of Aztecs cultivated the trees as ornamental and shade plantings in the center of their chinampas (floating agricultural systems) and along pathways throughout the Basin of Mexico, which included six lakes.

The trees lined the canals and were planted in the pre-Hispanic parks and gardens, which were abundant – Mexico has had a long and storied love affair with gardens, and particularly trees.

Ahuehuetes were a major feature of the gardens of Moctezuma, and before him Nezahualcoyotl (see the 100-peso bill). And it undoubtedly sheltered Hernan Cortés on the Noche Triste, the Night of Sorrows, where he supposedly wept as his invading army of Spanish conquistadors and their native allies were driven out of the Aztec capital at Tenochtitlan (not for long). As the lakes have been drained and paved, many of these trees have succumbed to loss of habitat and altered hydrology.

Pre-Hispanic Mexicans prepared various parts of the tree for medicinal purposes. They burned the bark for an astringent, to heal burns, scars, and skin ulcers. Other medicinal ailments were treated through the preparation of resin, leaves, buds, stems, fruit, and bark included edema, heart conditions, diarrhea, and hemorrhoids. The wood was used for furniture and beam construction, and burned as fuel. Ahuehuete trunks, due to their hardness and resistance to rot, were used to make canoes.

Ahuehuetes also had spiritual and mythic significance, and were considered ancestors, brothers and/or gods associated with creation stories. The Mixteco chiefs of Apoala (northwest of Oaxaca City) believed that the gods and the first chiefs originated from the branches of majestic trees growing adjacent to rivers. The “broken tree” (arbol quebrado) myth of the Mexica, which is portayed in the Codice Boturini, represents the birth of the Mexica people as an independent nation. In general, pre-Hispanic texts reference the religious, magic, and cosmic properties of trees, particularly those species that grow close to rivers and springs.

Another legend about the ahuehuete is related to its use as temporary housing. By divine mandate a husband and wife took shelter in the hollow trunk of an ahuehuete in anticipation of a flood. The gods drained the land and the couple survived. Currently, among the people of the Huasteca (a geographical and cultural region of the Meso-American Huastec people – it runs along the Gulf coast and inland to include parts of five states in central Mexico) – the tree plays a role in the holiday celebration of the initiation of planting, in accordance with the agriculture calendar. Other current religious rites consist of petitioning the gods for rain by wrapping a statue of San Antonio de Padua in braided roots of the ahuehuete, then burying the statue in a well dug near the river. Archaeobotanical studies have revealed that branches of the ahuehuete were used as offerings in a variety of religious ceremonies, particularly in the Basin of Mexico.

Through its continued traditional and religious uses, therapeutic qualities, versatility in construction, and use as a fuel, the ahuehuete maintains is its place in contemporary Mexican culture.

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Five Fabulous Flowering Trees in Huatulco

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By Brooke Gazer

It was the end of May when we drove into Huatulco for the first time. I recall being struck by the magnificent trees lining the green boulevards, especially those flaunting a riot of color. Who wouldn’t be impressed seeing them in all their glory? It is unfortunate that many visitors to our town miss this beautiful season, when the trees are most striking. Here is a list of my five favorites, accompanied by a bit of trivia on each.

The first three require a lot of space and may be too large for most home gardens, but they can be readily admired while walking along the wide median on Chahue Boulevard. The last two are certainly no less impressive and are more suitable for domestic gardens.

Flamboyant (flamboyán) … When in bloom, you can’t miss them. From April through June, clusters of delicate, bright scarlet flowers bunch together, forming enormous crimson bouquets that cover the entire tree. When this occurs, the tree appears to be on fire, which is where it derives the name. Flamboyant is from the French flambé, meaning “in flames,” as in baked Alaska flambé.

These broad shade trees can go dormant in the dry season, but with year-round watering, they keep some of their delicate fernlike leaves. When the blossoms disappear, they are replaced by flat, leathery pods, up to 60 cm (about 2 feet) long. Dozens of mature pods hang from the branches like skinny bats, giving the flamboyant tree an eerie appearance when denuded of foliage.

There are several varieties of flamboyant trees, but the species found in Mexico is Delonix Regia, which originated in Madagascar. If you have the space for a shade tree, and seek (almost) instant gratification, this one can shoot up by over a meter per year, reaching a height of 10-12 meters (up to 40 feet), with an even greater spread. But take care, invasive roots can interfere with building foundations and sidewalks, something you may have noticed stumbling over uneven pavements around town.

Golden Shower Tree (lluvia de oro) … While not seen as frequently in Huatulco as the flamboyant, these marvelous ornamentals grace many of Huatulco’s streets. From April to September, long sprays of bright yellow flowers droop in clusters from its branches, like rain falling from the clouds. A mature 15-meter (almost 50 feet) tree can spread up to 12 meters (40 feet) across. This deciduous tree loses its long, glossy leaves during the dry season, but with regular irrigation, it retains some foliage. Even as the tree is in full flower, seed pods appear as dark brown cylinders, about 2 cm (about ¾”) in diameter and can be up to 90 cm (almost a yard) long, hanging from its branches.

Cassia Fistula is native to southern India and has spread to southeast Asia; it is both the national tree and the national flower of Thailand. Aside from its beauty, this ornamental also bears the name Aragvadha, meaning “disease killer” in Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda, or “science of life” in Sanskrit, is a natural healing practice, originating over 3,000 years ago in India. It is believed that various parts of the Golden Shower Tree provide remedies for practically every infirmity from constipation to cancer.

African Tulip Tree (tulipán) … Not only is this tree green year-round, it produces masses of enormous, red-orange flowers throughout the year. Large clusters of buds appear at the end of the branches, and each bud opens to form a five-petal bloom of 8-15 cm (3-6″). The flowers are trumpet shaped, with ruffled edges; hence the name “tulip tree.”

Native to tropical Africa, Spathodea campanulata is part of the bignonia or trumpet vine family. This tropical evergreen can reach up to 25 meters (over 80 feet), with abundant, dark green foliage. Its leaves have a matte finish and are slightly rough to the touch.

When the showy blossoms fade, long boat shaped capsules stuffed with seeds appear, and as they open, copious quantities of seeds are released. Even if space allows, you might think twice before introducing the “King of Flowering Trees” into your garden. Those seeds form roots rapidly, and are hard to control, which is why this species is listed among the world’s top 100 most invasive. I can only assume it is through the diligence of Huatulco’s ninety some workers who diligently care for our parks and boulevards, that we do not see an overabundance of African tulip trees in Huatulco.

Bougainvillea (bugambilia) … Native to South America, this ornamental may technically be a shrub, but is easily trained as tree. Several roots planted in unison form a single trunk, allowing the thorny branches to make a canopy of colorful blossoms all around it.

The botanist Jeanne Baret was the first woman to circumvent the globe, and it has been speculated that she was the first European to observe this delicate flower. In 1776, women were forbidden to sail, so, on the four-year voyage headed by Admiral Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, she disguised herself as her lover’s valet. The lover, Philibert Commerson, took credit for the discovery and named it after Admiral de Bougainville.

With over 300 varieties of bougainvillea worldwide, the range of colors and hues is endless. Bunches of delicate white, yellow. purple, pink, or red “flowers” – the colorful parts are actually bracts – appear all along its thorny branches. The actual flowers are tiny and waxy, white or pale yellow, in the center of the bracts. At times, bougainvillea blooms can be so profuse, they render the small, green leaves practically invisible.

With water, this hearty species stays green and produces blossoms year-round. Depending on the variety, mature bougainvillea can reach between 6-12 meters (20-40 feet) high. Branches might spread an equal distance but require careful pruning to enhance flowering. Under optimal conditions, bougainvillea can achieve about one meter (just over three feet) per year.

Whether as a tree, bush or vine, this ornamental will provide a rewarding burst of color to any garden in Huatulco. Bougainvillea are so common here, it hardly warrants mentioning a location where one might see them.

Plumeria (plumeria, flor de mayo) … Endemic to Mexico, Central and South America, there are 11 sub-species of this tropical flowering tree, each with a multitude of varieties, offering a diverse range of colors or combination of colors, including creamy white, yellow, pale pink and fuchsia. In Mexico, these exotic blossoms were used in rituals by pre-Hispanic Mayans and Aztecs. In Hawaii and parts of Asia, the flowers are strung into “leis,” garlands to adorn women’s hair or wear around the neck.

Also called “frangipani,” the various species of plumeria produce a prolific display of blossoms with a delicate waxy texture and an intoxicating scent. The name frangipani originates with a 16th-century Italian marquis of the family Frangipani. The marquis created a perfume used to scent ladies’ fine leather gloves. The fragrance from this New World flower reminded people of the scented European accessory.

With shiny, dark green, elongated leaves, 20-30 cm long, most varieties reach a height of 4-6 meters (12-20 feet), but some might attain a height of 12 meters (40 feet). Plumeria blooms in the spring, but with sufficient water, a second season is possible after a dormant period. In its leafless dormant stage, this is not an attractive plant. Most trees limbs branch off into progressively finer branches; plumeria boughs simply reach an award stubby conclusion. However, the exotic blossoms that spring extravagantly from these boughs will compensate for what it lacks part of the year.

Plumeria are part of a larger family called Apocynaceae, also known as the dogbane family, because some were used as dog poison. A cut plumeria branch emits a milky substance that can irritate the eyes and skin.

This striking flowering tree can be seen in many locations around town, but on Boulevard Benito Juárez, as it passes by the Hotel Binniguenda in Santa Cruz, you will see several along the median next to the canal.

I understand that for many visitors to Huatulco, the draw is mainly to escape their freezing inhospitable winter climate. But for those who visit only October through March … you might be missing a major attraction!

Brooke Gazer operates Agua Azul la villa, an ocean view Bed and Breakfast in Huatulco (www.bbaguaazul.com).

2020

How the Jacaranda and Blue Hanami Came to Mexico – and the Japanese Paisajista Who Made It Happen

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By Deborah Van Hoewyk

It was an accident, my obsession with the oh-so-blue jacaranda (pronounced hah-kah-RAHN-dah) tree. In February 1997, on a trip to Oaxaca City to run a session for a university conference, I thought, “I got this far, why don’t I just stay and go to the beach? I see this place called ‘Huatulco’ that’s only half an inch away on the Lonely Planet map.” Fortunately, others offered up Monte Alban as an after-conference activity (little did I know how very l-o-o-o-ng and difficult that half an inch would be – Huatulco had to wait until 2004).

So off we went to Monte Alban, which is probably the last time I climbed to the top of an ancient Mexican pyramid. And from there, I saw them. I saw blue-blossomed trees.

There are a few other trees with blue blossoms, and there are supposed to be about fifty kinds of jacarandas, but there is nothing like Jacaranda mimosifolia. They are native to a belt across South America that includes Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil (jacaranda means “fragrant” in the region’s indigenous guarani­ language).

In Mexico City, the jacarandas transform many streets into allées of soothing lavender-blue. While jacarandas are beloved by aphids, whose sticky poop turns fallen blossoms into a major nuisance, they also give the Easter season bloom time hanami, literally translated from the Japanese as “flower-viewing,” the ephemeral experience of enjoying the clouds of blossoms that cover trees before they get on to the business of being green.

The jacarandas seem other-worldly, reminding me of the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York City; at cherry-blossom time, Japanese families picnic on the petal-strewn lawn, transporting the casual observer to a state of hanami in some quiet Tokyo park. Oddly enough, it was the cherry blossoms that led to the installation of huge numbers of jacaranda trees in Mexico City.

Mexico’s president from 1930-32, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, wanted to symbolize the friendship between Mexico and Japan – with thousands of cherry trees. Considering the complex history of Mexico as a conquered, then independent, then revolutionary country, and the history of Japan as an imperial, then military, then functioning imperial country, it’s remarkable that the two countries have a relationship that goes back over four centuries.

Mexico and Japan – Way Back When

In 1598, the usefulness of a relationship between Mexico and Japan occurred to Tokugawa (Minamoto) Iyeyasu, the first shōgun (military dictator) of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In Yedo, now, centuries later, Tokyo, the shogun observed that the Philippines did a brisk trade with Mexico, and sought out a relationship with the Philippines that would allow their trans-Pacific shipping vessels to stop in Japan before reaching their destination in the Philippines.

Establishing said relationship was a rocky affair, since the Philippines were actually a Spanish colony from 1521 to 1898, and – based on experience – Spain didn’t think Japan had good intentions toward its merchant ships. It wasn’t until 1608, when a new Spanish governor, Don Rodrigo de Vivero, arrived in the Philippines, that negotiations got serious – but not for long. Recall that every European country with a navy was trying to get into Japan, and that the customs of courtesy in Japan were opaque to the Spaniards, which seemed to lead to offense at every turn. By 1636, the Spanish were excluded from Japan (as were the Portuguese, the first European country to trade with Japan). The Dutch, although confined to a small area of Japan, locked up trade with Japan until the mid-19th century.

In 1853, the role of the Japanese emperor was restored to primacy – no more military dictatorships with shoguns. Under Emperor Meiji, Japan began re-initiating diplomatic relations with other countries; the United States brought a great deal of pressure to bear, resulting in an 1858 treaty that basically forced Japan to begin trading with the West.

Mexico, independent from Spain since 1821, sent an expedition to Japan in 1874. The expedition was led by a scientist, Francisco Díaz Covarrubias, ostensibly to see a rare astrological phenomenon, the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. There’s little evidence that the scientific part of the expedition succeeded, but formal relations between the two countries resumed. In 1888, Matías Romero and Munemitsu Mutsu, the foreign ministers of Mexico and Japan, respectively, signed Japan’s first “equal” treaty with another country.

Back to the Cherry Trees . . . Not!

Remember President Ortiz Rubio’s request to the Japanese government to donate the thousands of cherry trees? Japan’s gift to the United States of over 3,000 cherries in 1912 had not been without botanical troubles of its own, so Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs contacted a Japanese horticulturalist/ landscape architect, who had been working for “all the right people” in Mexico for decades. Would the cherry trees be right for Mexico City?

Nope, the horticulturalist replied. To flower, the cherry tree would need a much sharper temperature change between winter and spring. The cherries were abandoned. But Tatsugoro Matsumoto (1861-1955) was not without a replacement suggestion – one he had been working on for quite a while.

Tatsugoro had studied to become an ueki-shi, or landscape architect, in Tokyo, and was so good that he never worked anywhere except in the imperial gardens. Japanese gardeners were sought after around the world. In 1888, at the age of 24, he was sent by the Japanese government to Peru to install a garden at a private residence called Quinta Heeren in Lima. Its owner, Óscar Agusto Heeren, the former Peruvian ambassador to Japan, had returned to Lima to work on enhancing relations between Peru and Japan.

En route to Peru, Tatsuguro visited Mexico, and was apparently impressed with the climate, growing conditions, and the national love of flowers and gardening. While working on his commission in Peru, he met José Landero y Coss, a wealthy rancher and mine owner from Mexico. Landero owned a hacienda, San Juan Hueyapan, in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that dated back to 1535 (built by one of the sons of Hernan Cortés); impressed with Tatsugoro’s work, Landero asked him to come to establish gardens at the hacienda.

The story gets a little hazy here, but Landero was influential in seeing to it that Tatsugoro went on to work in Mexico City, mostly for wealthy families. Tatsuguro decided to emigrate permanently to Mexico, although he returned briefly to Japan to say farewell to his family. Sending a shipment of Japanese plant materials from Yokohama to San Francisco to help with establishing himself in the nursery business, Tatsugoro decamped for California. His plants arrived after three months, dead as doornails, but in the meantime, he had received a commission for a Japanese tea garden in Golden Gate Park for a world’s fair in 1894.

The tea garden was so popular, it was almost immediately converted to a permanent garden – but by another Japanese landscape artist, not Tatsugoro, who had moved on in his plan to emigrate to Mexico. His certificate of immigration as a legal resident is a little loose with a few facts and illegible in spots. It is dated August of 1896, and reports that Tatsugoro was a widowed (really?) gardener; the birth date and age suffer from too much ink in the typewriter ribbon, but he would have been about 35. He is described as thin, a little over 5 feet tall, with black hair and eyebrows, brown skin and eyes, and a beard with grande moustache. He was of the “yellow” race and Buddhist religion.

From 1896 on, Tatsugoro worked in the most posh colonias (Roma and Condesa were developed right after the turn of the 20th century). A year after he had arrived in Mexico, Tatsugoro bought a house and set up a flower shop in La Romita, already being gentrified into Colonia Roma. While his immigration papers say Tatsugoro was a viudo (widower), there is other information to indicate that Tatasugoro’s wife had emigrated to join him and was running the flower shop. (Florería Matsumoto is still alive and well at Colima 92 in Col. Roma Norte, and is run by Tatsugoro’s great-granddaughter, Marie Furakaki Matsumoto – arrangements go from $700 to $1,000 mxn.)

The influential Landero may have provided Tatsugoro with a contact to introduce him to President Porfirio Díaz; in any event, by 1900, Díaz and his wife had taken note. Tatsugoro designed and maintained the gardens at the presidential residence, Chapultepec Castle, not to mention all the floral arrangements for inside the castle.

Life was definitely good – according to Tatsugoro’s grandson Ernesto, Díaz paid his grandfather 12 pesos a day, 240 times the minimum wage of 5 centavos. Ernesto says Díaz told Tatsugoro the salary was to enable him “to have a nursery to plant seeds and plants because in Mexico City there are prickly pear cactus and there are no trees.”

Jacarandas Needed

Trees there would be – blue-blossomed jacaranda trees. Tatsugoro certainly had obtained seeds and cuttings from South America well before the cherry-blossom consultation, but his role in introducing new species of flowering trees and shrubs got a big boost when his son showed up in 1910. Although Sanshiro Matsumoto, only about 15 or 16 when he reached Mexico, may never have actually seen his father, and no one has anything to say about why, if she actually did, his mother would hie off to Mexico leaving him behind, son and dad combined forces in the business.

Together, the Matsumotos enlarged the business from flower-shop to nursery, and undertook to import the plant materials needed to establish not just the jacaranda trees, but bougainvillea, camelias, hydrangeas, roses, and azaleas, along with bulbs (narcissus, tulips, gladioli) and chrysanthemums. Not to mention that they hybridized the poinsettia (noche buena) to the short, bushy Christmas-season form and installed the palm trees (not native to Mexico) that line Avenida Paseo de las Palmas in Lomas de Chapultepec. Sanshiro undertook to organize the business administratively, apparently not Tatsugoro’s strong suit, and they were able to buy fields and ranches for nursery properties. They grew on their trees, shrubs, bulbs, and flowers at Rancho El Batán, Hacienda de Temixco, and greenhouses in Tacubaya and San Pedro de Los Pinos.

Not only did Senshiro Matsumoto arrive in 1910, the centennial of the Mexican War of Independence, but Díaz decided to celebrate the centennial by inviting other countries to participate. Japan’s delegation, led by Baron Yasuya Uchida and his wife, coordinated their visit with a major exhibition of Japanese Arte Industrial at the Crystal Palace; beside the Palace (now the Museo Universitario del Chopo), Díaz had Tatsugoro create a small lake surrounded by a Japanese garden, which he himself, along with the Japanese delegation, inaugurated.

For the Matsumotos, 1910 was a good year; not so for Porfirio Díaz. The Porfiriato, while it modernized Mexico, was dictatorially oppressive and had lasted, with one interruption, since 1877. Having declared at one point that he would not run for President again, he reneged. Thus began the Mexican Revolution, which would last eleven years. The Matsumotos, however, were very astute at maintaining their connections with high society and ruling powers, and rode out the Revolution quite handily.

By the end of the conflict, and now amply supplied with jacarandas, Tatsugoro approached President Álvaro Obregón (term 1920-24) about the possiblity of lining important avenues and boulevards with the trees. The idea didn’t really take hold until President Rubio wanted the cherry trees, so the spring hanami in Mexico City and Oaxaca de Juárez turned out to be blue, not pink!

Beyond the Jacarandas

Later in the 20th century, the Matsumoto family, through their connections with Mexican presidents, along with their land holdings, would provide an important, unrelated service to Japanese immigrants during World War II. The United States pressured Mexico to follow its lead in creating concentration centers; Mexico decided that Japanese residents of Mexico City and Guadalajara should be interned. The Matsumotos served as go-betweens between the Mutual Aid Committee of the Japanese and the government of President Manuel Ávila Camacho. They offered up both the Rancho El Batán and Hacienda de Temixco as places for Japanese to live and grow their own food until the end of the war. One presumes the Matsumotos themselves stayed home in Colonia Roma.

Later on, Senshiro was approached by President Adolfo López Mateos (term 1958-64), who was looking for space for a housing complex. Where Rancho El Batán once grew jacarandas, now sits Unidad Independencia with 65 single-family residences, 35 multi-family buildings with 1500 apartments, three towers with 100 luxury apartments, social and educational services, a sports center, a supermarket, a medical clinic, an open air theater, and more. Senshiro’s only request was that no trees be cut down.

 

2020

New Year of the Trees

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By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

A deep appreciation for trees is integral to Judaism.  Trees are mentioned over a hundred times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Hebrew generic word for fruit also appears over a hundred times. In addition, specific trees and fruits that grew in ancient Israel, including the date, fig, olive, and persimmon, are described and praised throughout the Bible.

Two trees, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, are central to the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis, as is a fruit that they were not supposed to eat but did. The tree of life later came to be metaphorically associated with the entirety of Judaic knowledge or with the totality of human generations, and representations of the tree of life are commonly found in synagogues, works of art, and the titles of books or movies. Traditional sayings about the tree of life are commonly inscribed in Hebrew on the walls or doors of Jewish schools and places of worship.

When the State of Israel was reestablished in 1948, much of the land had been stripped bare of trees during the centuries when most Jews had been in exile. A major effort was launched to turn Israel’s desert land into fertile areas of orchards and forests. Trees were planted that were the same species that Jews had nurtured 3,000 years earlier at the time of King David.  Children around the world collected coins to support that effort, and each was rewarded with a certificate stating that a tree had been planted in Israel with the funds they provided.  The beautiful lush forests and orchards in modern Israel are testimony to the success of that effort. In those early years, many people during their first trip to Israel would ask to see “their tree” – but it was impossible to identify individual trees that had been established with particular donations.

Many Jewish holidays incorporate fruit and nuts into festival meals and traditions.  On Passover, a sweet mixture of chopped fruits and nuts, called “charoset,” offsets the taste of horseradish, eaten to remember the bitterness of slavery.  On the spiritual New Year, Rosh HaShanah, apples dipped in honey are served to wish the family and guests a sweet year the year round. In the fall at the festival of Sukkot (tabernacles), branches of the myrtle, willow and date palm are bundled together and, along with the fruit of the citron tree. are used in a celebratory ritual.

Not only do trees and fruit play an important role in Jewish holidays, but they have been awarded a holiday of their own – the New Year of the Trees. The holiday is commonly called Tu B’Shevat, which means the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat, the date of the holiday on the Hebrew lunar calendar. On the secular calendar, Tu B’Shevat falls in January or February. While in some places, such as Mexico City, the temperature on Tu B’Shevat can be bitter cold and the trees still dormant, and in other places such as coastal Oaxaca the weather can be witheringly hot and dry, in Israel or Guadalajara Tu B’Shevat is a time when trees begin to flower.

Tu B’Shevat is celebrated in different ways depending on the community. Many communities essentially celebrate an Earth Day, providing information about sustainable growing methods.

Others hold seders, which are meals incorporating seven species of fruits and grains mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. Some communities in temperate climates plant trees, while other communities raise funds for planting trees in Israel. Almost everyone celebrating Tu B’Shevat eats fruit.

One of our favorite Tu B’Shevat celebrations took place in Huatulco with The Eye staff and their partners. Everyone brought a dish made with fruit for brunch – a delicious variety of salads, frittatas, salsas, cakes and cookies. We talked about and sampled four kinds of fruit and compared them to human personalities – hard on the outside but soft inside; soft on the outside but hard on the inside; soft on the outside and inside; and hard on the outside and inside. And then everyone told a story about a favorite tree they remembered from a period in their life.

Tu B’Shevat is a relatively minor holiday. It is not mentioned in the Scriptures but rather was discussed by rabbis in the Talmud – Jewish oral tradition written down around the year 500. But for those of us who love trees, it is a wonderful time to appreciate their diversity and the bounty they provide and to commit ourselves to their protection.