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| The Secret Life of Plants in Guerrero |
Acapulco, Guerrero Flora
One of the greatest problems when discussing flora (and fauna for that matter) is the names. Now, I'm not much cop at Latin names and one name for most things is about as much as my internal hard drive can cope with so be forgiving if I make a few leaps from the Spanish name to the English name to some local name for the plants I am about to mention. On the few occasion where I am using up memory by knowing more than one name I shall mention it.
The whole coastline is pretty much devoted to palm trees. There is the ubiquitous Co conut Palm which has to one of the best things ever invented (back to school again). The fruit yielding oil, the fruit fibre is used for matting, the
leaves that make quite good roofing material (although like the wood which is used everywhere in economic or temporary building they are inclined to rot rather quickly) makes this quite a specimen. Other palms include the Royal Palms. These are the tall smooth ones in the middle of the Costera with the green necks. There is also the Bottle Palm, The Travellers Palm (my favorite… which is actually more of a relative of the banana ).
Some are native and others are not but they all grow here so what the hell… lets not be too purist about the whole thing. Sticking to the big stuff for a while, interspersed with the coconut plantations are a fair few mango plantations (mango season is April to June). These too are planted but also grow all over. They are magnificent trees and seem to mature at different speeds in various parts of the same tree… my personal observation (any comments?)
But in general the coastal plain is described by my textbooks as Savanna. I would elaborate and say that it is savanna interspersed with large areas of Tropical Deciduous
Forest. You only have to look at the hills round Acapulco to see that. (That is where the locals haven't been out with their machetes and chain saws.) In the Savanna sections you will find the Gourd Tree whose fruit grows straight off the trunk and is about the size of a small melon and is used, hollowed out, as a water scoop for washing and drinking. Apart from grass and other nondescript plants the other major feature are the mangroves which grow all around the numerous lagoons of the area. They are tough and impenetrable and form a very important part of the land's protection against the sea. Many areas of the world have suffered unbelievable devastation from hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis where they have been stripped. Their exposed roots are an invaluable and impenetrable spawning ground for shrimp, fish, aligators and crocodiles and the trees provide a very safe breeding ground for many species of birds.
Tropical deciduous forest is what might also be called scrub… a sort of low jungle that goes very brown in the dry season but is a glorious emerald green within a week of the first rains. It requires a bit more rain than savanna but where the "rain line" is beats me. It's not very pretty in winter I'm afraid
There is another landscape style that is also creeping in at a considerable rate. Lush green grass, elegant palms, small sand dunes and in winter green oases in the middle of the arid countryside…
There are at least four areas like the above in very close proximity to the Port of Acapulco. This particular anomaly is covered here.
As the traveler moves inland the mountains continue to rise and the scruffy forest gives way to Pine and Oak forest. These can be found beyond Atoyac. Provided they haven't been chopped down since I was last there. These are more temperate areas and are home to Mexico's 112 oak species, both evergreen (Encino) and deciduous and 39 pine species, some with 12 inch needles others with short stubby ones. Look out for the Ayacahuite, which can grow to 100 ft and the Ocote Macho, almost as tall with long gray cones and droopy needles.
If you are really brave you can venture beyond into the cloud forest which can be found above about 5,500 ft . Here the clouds (fog) keep everything damp and soggy and you could be in a prehistoric landscape… tree ferns, bromeliads, orchids, begonias, all dripping with moisture. Lichens on every branch: such a contrast to the parched areas just down the hill.
But a word of warning… you will have to go through bandit country to get to these places and there are all sorts of illicit crops grown up in the mountains of Guerrero. And these crops are guarded very, very zealously. If they catch a whiff of the DEA about you, you might just end up as Rottwieler food.
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| What's happening
in Acapulco? |
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