Frangipani, Plumeria101 YUCATAN TREES
by Jim Conrad
2015 edition
SWEETSOP - Saramuyo SHORTCUTS:

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ornamentals | Fruit Trees | Wild Trees | Rare & Unusual Trees

ORNAMENTAL TREES OF STREETS & VILLAGES

If you've traveled much in the world's tropics, already you've met many of the most conspicuous and attractive of urban and small-town Yucatan's ornamental trees. That's because the most attractive ornamental trees are carried around the world. Many of our species come from other places, but a surprising number are native to the Yucatan, and have been introduced elsewhere.

FRUIT-PRODUCING TREES AROUND MAYAN HOMES

FRUIT-PRODUCING TREES AROUND MAYAN HOMES

At first glance, backyards in typical Mayan villages look chaotic. However, up close you can see that usually they are sophisticated examples of agroforestry. In other words, plants and animals are being managed as a sustainable ecosystem efficiently producing food for the family throughout the year. Attempts to grow Northern-type gardens in the Yucatan fail because of diseases, the plants being eaten by animals, and the habitually thin, organic-matter-impoverished soil. Consider the backyard of a home in the village of Sabacché about an hour by car southeast of Mérida here.

WILD TREES & BUSHES OFF THE ROAD

YUCATAN'S RARE AND UNUSUAL SPECIES: a sample