Greetings to the Plant Power Vegan community

In this my first post accepting @sirenahippie's invitation to participate in the World Tree Day Contest.
Thanks to my friend @actioncats for inviting me to participate in this beautiful contest, because the trees are wonderful beings with which we coexist on this planet called Earth, which we must love and care for. Each one of them is a reservoir of life.

Give us an overview of when and how you learned about this tree.

When I started studying Agronomy Engineering in the city of Maracay, the subjects I liked the most were those related to Botany, in which we had outings to the Botanical Garden and to the mountain that surrounds the Faculty of Agronomy, the Henry Pittier National Park, also called Rancho Grande, a cloud forest with a great biodiversity. We were going for plant reconnaissance. I had a great interest in knowing the plants from the agricultural point of view as well as if they did not have it directly. And this great mountain was the right place to learn.

In a visit we made to the Rancho Grande Biological Station, which is located on this mountain at 1092 m, while we were going up the road to Ocumare de la Costa, a narrow road with curves that borders the mountain until we reached the coast, the professor of the subject Systematic Botany was explaining to us about the changes in vegetation as we climbed and showed us some typical species.

In the semi-deciduous forest area before reaching the cloud forest, I was a little dizzy because of the sharp curves and because I was turning my head from one side of the road to the other looking at the different species of plants, when a tree caught my attention.

A tree about 20 meters high that would not have been easy to distinguish among the vegetation if it had not been for the copper color of its bark that stood out among the greenery.

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What is the common name and scientific name of that tree?

I liked the name Naked Indian, because of the similarity of the color of its bark with the color of the skin of the native inhabitants of these lands. Very appropriate. In other places, they call it Palo Mulato.

Its scientific name is Bursera simaruba, and it belongs to the Burseraceae family.

As it can be seen in the photographs, the external bark that is the oldest is detached and leaves to see the internal bark that is of dark green color.

These morphological characteristics are related to its adaptation to the habitat. This beautiful tree lives in tropical areas where there are long periods of drought and as a strategy to make efficient use of available water, the leaves fall off and thus avoid water loss by transpiration but also to compensate for the lack of photosynthesis, has chloroplasts in the bark of the stem and branches that allow the cells to perform this important function for the plant as it provides the energy needed for all its vital functions.
and therefore its survival is affected.

The naked Indian is a tree that can be found in other areas and coincidentally when I found out about this initiative, I had taken some pictures of a naked Indian found in the Michelena Park, in the city of Maracay where I often go for a walk.

In this picture I took in February during the dry season, the Indio is really naked, without leaves.

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In this picture in the middle of May it was already very leafy, I could not see the flowers, but recently I made another visit and in this opportunity I observed in the highest branches a small inflorescence that I could photograph.

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This beautiful tree, like all living beings, interacts with other plant and animal species in the environment where it lives, and its roots also communicate with organisms that live on the ground. It is a whole communication network.

In the forest of Henry Pittier Park, its roots, like those of other species, support the thin layer of soil of the mountain and avoid that when it rains with a lot of intensity the soil detaches from the rocky mantle. When forest fires occur, the vegetation that is lost does not recover, which causes landslides that destroy everything in their path. The balance is lost and the fire-tolerant plants remain. Although the naked Indian is tolerant to drought and is used to reforest arid and rocky areas, I found no reports that it resists this condition, as far as we can see.

Give us an overview of when and how you learned about this tree

In the literature, there are many reports on the medicinal uses of this tree, from skin conditions to infectious processes and conditions such as diabetes. The popular knowledge makes use of all parts of the plant, from the seeds, flowers, leaves and bark as natural medicine, being a tree venerated by ancient cultures of America.

It is a tree that produces resins and aromatic compounds. Infusion of the flowers and fruits are used to relieve muscle aches, fever and tonsillitis and the bark to treat skin conditions, kidneys, diarrhea, anemia and others. It is said that the resin helps to heal wounds and this is an effect that also produces the resin of other species of trees as the oil of stick and the Sangre de drago "Croton lechleri".

Why do you appreciate and value that tree, what makes it so special to you?

The connection we can establish with nature is very strong when it comes to trees, I feel it and I take advantage of those moments when I can be close to them. The energy I receive is amazing, and I think they can feel mine too.

Many years ago Gustav Fechner, German physicist and philosopher born in 1801, pointed out in his writings the existence of soul in all living organisms and refers especially in plants as beings of a vital purity, closely related to the environment where they live.

These reflections led him to see beyond what man in his egoistic vision, of being the center of everything, has seen nature and where plants are inferior beings without sensitivity.

This has been changing for many people, who are realizing not only how important trees are for life, but that they are wonderful beings with whom we can connect.

This Naked Indian tree I visit whenever I go to the park, and we exchange our energies. I feel calm there. It is a moment of peace.

Thank you for reading

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References:

https://publicaciones.banrepcultural.org/index.php/boletin_cultural/article/view/82

https://revistas.tec.ac.cr/index.php/kuru/article/view/510/437

Rojas-Rodríguez, F. (2012). Árboles que curan: indio desnudo. Revista Forestal Mesoamericana Kurú, 3(9), pág. 77–80. Recuperado a partir de https://revistas.tec.ac.cr/index.php/kuru/article/view/510

The pictures were taken by me with a Samsung Galaxy A15 phone.
The slideshow image and dividers were edited in Canva for free use.
The English translation was done at www.deepl.com

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