|
Besides providing shade, palm trees provide mankind with many products including building materials, clothing, oil and food. Coconut meat from the fruit of the Coconut palm makes a delightful treat sold by street vendors throughout México. Dried coconut shavings are used in sweets of all kinds, while coconut milk enhances everything from Thai food to piñas coladas.
On the down side, almost 100 species of palms are considered “endangered” today, and nine are thought to have become extinct just recently. The popularity of palm products for furniture production and food––as well as the destruction of natural habitats––are main reasons for this loss.
The Washingtonia filifera, also known as the California Fan palm, grows all over the Baja Peninsula and up the Pacific coast almost to Oregon, in the American southwest and the Sonora region of México. This stately palm grows to be over 60–feet tall. Archeological records date its presence in the region back over 20 million years. One tree can live as long as 200 years or more.
This palm produces clusters of orange seed berries; the seeds become black when dry. These seeds were used by indigenous peoples for centuries to make ceremonial rattles, were ground into flour or made into a mush for eating, had their juice extracted to make a sweet beverage, were eaten raw or made into jelly. The heart of this palm is edible, and both the trunk and the fronds can be used for dwelling construction, weaving baskets and the fashioning of simple tools. Only bamboo––a relative of the palm—has been of more use to mankind. (Duct tape ranks a distant third.)
You probably recognize these graceful giants because of their extensive use in landscaping around hotels, office buildings and homes, and up and down many boulevards. The palm’s fronds are used throughout the tropics to make palapa roofs. Properly constructed, these roofs are watertight and make for a cooler living space than non–breathing concrete. A palapa roof covered with a fisherman’s net is very storm resistant. However , in the event of a hurricane, nothing is guaranteed.
You can purchase your own Washingtonia palms from Vivero Los Cabos, one of the oldest and largest nurseries in San José del Cabo and a local favorite for over 25 years.
Also found growing within their eight–acre Garden of Eden are over 80 species of palms, thousands of other types of plants, a quarter–acre of designer pots and planters, and Saint Augustine grass turf ready to be installed in and around your casa.
Vivero Los Cabos also specializes in landscape design and maintenance as well as irrigation systems.
They are located behind the Super Plaza Aramburo in San José del Cabo or check out their dynamic website at www.viveroloscabos.com.mx. Their telephone number is (624) 142-1380.––David Mandich
|
