SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE YUCATAN, MÉXICO
FISH-POISON TREE Fish-poison Tree, called Habim and Habin
by others, since the Maya tend to interchange M and N sounds as they wish, is Piscidia
piscipula. Also in English sometimes it's called Jamaica Dogwood. At right you can
see that the pinnately compound leaves look like ash leaves, except that they are
alternate instead of opposite (one leaf at a twig node instead of two). In riverless
Yucatan the natives appear not to know that bark and foliage of the tree were
traditionally used for poisoning fish so they could be collected easily and eaten.
Instead, they think of the tree strictly in terms of its very strong, tough and durable
inner wood which, I have found, is very hard to drive a nail into. Flowers are white to
purple with red stripes, and the distinctive fingerlike fruits bear curly
"wings." However, during the winter dry season when most northerners are
visiting the Yucatan you seldom see these. To identify the tree from similar species,
notice the leaflets' ± rounded tips and the curiously zigzagging manner of the young stem
tips, as shown in the picture above.
Fish-poison Tree, called Habim and Habin
by others, since the Maya tend to interchange M and N sounds as they wish, is Piscidia
piscipula. Also in English sometimes it's called Jamaica Dogwood. At right you can
see that the pinnately compound leaves look like ash leaves, except that they are
alternate instead of opposite (one leaf at a twig node instead of two). In riverless
Yucatan the natives appear not to know that bark and foliage of the tree were
traditionally used for poisoning fish so they could be collected easily and eaten.
Instead, they think of the tree strictly in terms of its very strong, tough and durable
inner wood which, I have found, is very hard to drive a nail into. Flowers are white to
purple with red stripes, and the distinctive fingerlike fruits bear curly
"wings." However, during the winter dry season when most northerners are
visiting the Yucatan you seldom see these. To identify the tree from similar species,
notice the leaflets' ± rounded tips and the curiously zigzagging manner of the young stem
tips, as shown in the picture above.