SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION:
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Magnoliopsida
Family: Malvaceae Bombacaceae
Genius:
Ceiba
Species:
Ceiba pentandra
Yucatan's Flora: Kapok
or Ceiba Tree
Sacred
Mayan Tree and Wild Medicinal Plant
Lush Botanical Gardens and Tropical Flora at
Hacienda Chichen, Chichen Itza, Yucatan
Elephant Ear Tree
(English),
Piich (Maya) Guanacaste
Spanish Enterolobium cyclocarpum
Fabaceae Family.
Native to Mesoamerica. Strong long branches, large
majestic thick trunk, when mature the Piich can reach
30-35 meters high, huge canopy, foliage with double
pinnate leaflets. Older Piich trees house many varieties
of wild orchids and bromeliads. Piich trees flower
in April and are filled with exotic deep purple-brown
woody seed pods by May. Elephant Ear Tree's seeds
are starchy with a light peanut flavor, very nutritious
and filling. Maya people cooked Piich seeds as
snacks (much like pop-corn) and rural Mayan people
process seeds to make flour for tortillas when corn
crops are marginal.
At
Hacienda Chichen is
committed to protect the flora and fauna found in its
own private Maya Jungle Nature Reserve and Neo-tropical
forest where many Ceibas grow wild and new young kapok
trees have planted to reforest a vast area of the
reserve. Guests of this green boutique hotel enjoy
observing many
plants and animals that reside in tthe Kapok's huge
branches or Ceiba trees (named Ya'axche in Maya language).
Visitors can observe wild birds nests, small reptiles
and mammals it the Kapok's huge branches, as well as a
variety of insects and frogs breed in the pools
that collect on the many bromeliads and crevices found
in Ceibas.
The
Mayan sacred trees and ethno-medicine healing traditions (medicinal
plants used by the Mayan Healers in the Peninsula of
Yucatan and other Maya regions: Chiapas, Belize,
Guatemala) are still kept with great respect and taught verbally by Mayan J-Men
who
actively practiced the Mayan holistic healing arts; such
natural way of healing is taught from one generation
to the next by example and careful study of the Maya
medicinal plants in the wild since ancient times.
Since the Spaniards burned almost all Mayan books and
codices, J-Men and Mayan healers
have little written
records of their medicinal methods; today, few books by
western writers have recorded some of the important
Mayan ethno-medicine healing traditions, medicine
plants, remedies, cures, and
holistic practices. Mayan healers
use Mayan holistic rituals and healing ceremonies
with prayer, divination, ethno-medicine traditions, and
guidance from their spiritual guardians that communicate
through dreams and their holy Sas'tun (quartz)
holistic messages to cure, purify, or cleanse a person.
The
sacred
Maya Ceiba or Yaaxche tree is one of the most
important elements of ancient Maya Cosmovision and a key
player among the Maya sacred flora, and medicinal plants use
in Mayan purification rituals by J-Men or Mayan
healers. At the Hacienda Chichen's Maya Jungle Reserve
and hotel gardens travelers and visitors can enjoy
observing the majestic Ceiba trees around the property.
These beautiful Kapok trees support
a variety of wild birds,
endemic fauna,
butterflies,
insects, and small mammals.
Wish to contact us? do so via
email:
info@yucatanadventure.com.mx
Feel free
to review
our
Complete Hacienda Chichen's Flora Guide
filled with beautiful photographs of fruit trees, Mayan
medicinal trees, Yucatan's endemic flora collection and
other beauties found in the lush tropical gardens
and private Maya Jungle Nature Reserve of this unique
green boutique hotel.
Visit our recommended Chichen
Services Mayan Vacations Portal to enjoy Yucatan,
Mexico:
www.yucatanadventure.com.mx
Mayan Ethno Botany and Yucatan's
Flora
Yucatan Adventure Green Travel Guide is a
volunteer Sustainable Green Travel Guide designed by the
Maya Foundation In Laakeech A. C. a NGO sustainable
civil society founded by Hacienda Chichen Resort's
owners and staff in Chichen
Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. Hacienda Chichen's
sustainable green vision and eco-cultural mission
committed to provide travelers a soulful Mayan cultural
experience as well as a Green Getaway to explore the
eco-wonders and cultural traditions of the Maya; as well
as to support the welfare of
Mayan rural communities and to promote
Sustainable
Geo-Tourism. Visit Hacienda Chichen Resort and
Yaxkin Spa's website:
www.haciendachichen.com
Enjoy
Hacienda Chichen Resort's Flora Guide and Botanical
Gardens beauty and serenity when visiting Chichen Itza,
Yucatan, Mexico.
Published
Photos & Information Courtesy of
Hacienda Chichen Resort and Belisa B. Gordon
Environmental Director / Maya Nature Reserve
November 2009
