The Ceiba - Latin America’s Most Storied Tree

[José Balido]

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For years I had this kinda funny (as in funky, not ha-ha) tree growing right smack in the middle of my front yard in Miami. It was admittedly not a particularly cuddly or friendly looking bit of botany, its trunk dramatically prickling all over as it is with stubby conical thorns. But for me it’s all about the mystique, being as it is a ceiba (English names include “kapok,” “silk cotton,” and “silk floss”). This is a genus of tropical flora which though found as far afield as Africa and Asia, I’ve come across constantly on my travels through Latin America and the Caribbean – and so might you.



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The ceiba is the official tree of Puerto Rico and Guatemala and even an entire city in Honduras is named La Ceiba (which, just by the way, is popular among visitors for its adventure activities). The one in my Miami yard was still practically a sapling, still skinny and maybe six meters (20 or so feet) tall. But they can grow to be giants, with heights of more than 61m (200 ft.) and even more dramatically gnarled bases sometimes nearly as wide as small houses.

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And the roots (so to speak) of ceibas in the history and culture of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean are especially deep.In fact, they are depicted in Maya mythology as the “world tree” (below), linking Xibalba, the underworld, with the terrestrial realm and the heavens (doesn’t get more central than that, right?), and you'll come across representations in museums and ancient Maya archaeological sites and museums, especially in items such as incense holders and burial urns. Wherever the ceiba grows, it seems, it has long cast a spell on the local peoples, providing them over the centuries - not just with practical products like oils, stuffing for pillows and mattresses, and medicinal substances - but spiritual inspiration as well. 

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But it was actually in Cuba that I first became aware of the cultural impact of the ceiba, at a landmark called El Templete (below). It’s a small neoclassical temple-style structure built in 1828 on Havana’s oldest square, the Plaza de Armas, on a spot marking the where a ceiba once stood – the legendary tree under which the Roman Catholic mass was celebrated that marked the founding of San Cristóbal de la Habana in 1519. That original tree is long gone, of course, but it's represented by a marble column, and another large successor grows right out out in front, venerated particularly by the followers of the afro-Cuban religion santería (the ceiba is also held sacred in West Africa, where this faith has its roots). This tree also is the focus of an annual tradition on November 16, the date of Havana's  founding, in which Cubans of all ages and beliefs make three circles around it and throw down coins before it while making three wishes.

CheoMalanga

Such is the place that one of Latin America's most distinctive trees has the culture and history of this hemisphere that it truly transcends mere botany to cross into the realm of the mystical and the legendary. So keep that in mind should you happen to come across any  ceibas - they're way more than just hostile-looking spikes!

[Randhir Vikram Singh]

thanks for sharing