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Chichen Itza, Yucatan.
Did You Know ?
Ancient Maya people collected the light
soft
silky fiber inside Ceiba fruits to create yarns
and fine fabrics; such fiber is called "Pochote"
Visit Yucatan Haciendas Top Choice:
Hacienda Chichen Resort
with its private Maya Jungle
Nature Reserve and Bird Refuge
Check our Maya Vacation Offers
here |
Yucatan Adventure Geo-Travel
Guide
Hacienda Chichen Resort's Botanical Gardens
An Eco-Cultural Mayan Spa Gateway and
private Maya Jungle Nature Reserve
Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico.
 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
.jpg) Kapok,
Ceiba Tree: Yaaxche (Maya)
Ceiba pentandra,
is the most
Sacred Tree to the Maya, (flowers photo) belongs to the
Bombacaceae family. Ceiba or kapok trees at the
Hacienda Chichen's gardens and Nature Reserve grow
from 45 to a 100 feet tall. Among its interesting
features are the bulky woody spines that cover the
Ceiba's trunk while young, some can be observe even when
the tree has reached seven years of age; Ceibas
trunk when young is deep jade green and as it ages, the
coloration changes to a pale grayish with green
undertones and brown striped bark.
Ceiba trees' have umbrella
shape crowns and the branches extend in layers; the
trees loose their leafs during dry season just after
flowering. Ceiba or Kapok trees produce a silky cotton like fiber
within their fruits,
such fruit pods are called by the
Maya people
"pochote," (top photo) a highly valuable fiber for clothing since
pre-Hispanic times.
The Ceiba's seedpods are found
within its fruits' cotton-like fibers helping propagate
and dispense seeds in the wind.
 Commonly referred in Yucatan as la
Ceiba,
the Ceiba pentandra trees give their first pochote
crop after reaching seven years of age; young
Ceiba trees have large thorny spines protruding from the
trunk to discourage wild rodents damaging the
tree's trunk. When mature kapok trees have buttresses to
help the tree stabilize itself.
Even today,
Maya people honor the
Ya'axche or
Ceiba Tree as an energy connection with the Cosmos,
Earth, and the Underworld; ever present in ceremonies
and as a medicine plant, this beautiful tree is were the
Maya Gods abide, and so do
may forest supernatural creatures and energies. Young
Ceiba trees have exotic looking thorny green trunks.
The Ceiba Tree
of Life plays an important central part at each
Mayan Wedding Ceremony and in other
Mayan holistic rituals as well as
in many Mayan mythological legends still belief by the Mayan rural
people to be part of supernatural dark energies in the form of demons
and legendary beings, such as is the case of the
Ix Tabay or
X'Tabay.
 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.
Mayan Medicinal Plants and
Sacred Trees
Yucatan's
Lush Flora: Mayan Ethno-Botany in
Hacienda Chichen, Chichen Itza, Mexico
 The
Ceiba or Yaaxche
as the Maya call the Kapok tree Ceiba pentranda,
is the most sacred of all Mayan sacred trees.
Central to the Mayan ethno-medicine healing traditions (medicinal
plants used by the Mayan Healers in the Peninsula of
Yucatan and other Maya regions: Chiapas, Belize,
Guatemala) that 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 holistic Mayan 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 also 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. Among its interesting
features are the bulky woody spines that cover the
Ceiba's trunk while young, some can be observe even when
the tree has reached seven years of age; Ceibas
trunk when young is deep jade green and as it ages, the
coloration changes to a pale grayish with green
undertones and brown striped bark.
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, September 2012, July 2013, May 2016
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