After 100 years, this June 5 a ahuehuete will replace the iconic palm in his gazebo Paseo de la Reformaso here we tell you more about the name of this very Mexican tree.
To begin with, this species is so old, with more than 2 thousand yearsand about 500 each specimen, whose name comes from Nahuatl and means “old man of the water” because near rivers or land with high humidity, and because its foliage, when covered with white hay, looks like the long gray hair of an old man.
And although this species is endemic to Mexico, USA Y Guatemalait is believed that the Aztec emperors Nezahualcoyotl, Montezuma Y Cuitlahuac they ordered several of these specimens to be planted to adorn the royal gardens.
Read more: There is already a winner! This tree will replace the palm of “Glorieta de la Palma” in Reforma
But not there for his story, or his intervention in history, because it was right in an ahuehuete where it happened, he developed the classic scene of the sad night of Hernan Corteswhile its splendor, longevity, beauty and dimensions made it the national tree during the celebration of the centenary of the Mexico’s independencein 1910, after Porfirio Diaz convened the contest where he was selected.
Now that, regarding its names, in addition to “ahuehuete” and “ciprés” and “sabino”, it has about 20 in indigenous languages throughout Mexico, among them:
- River cypress, tnuyucu (Mixtec)
- Jahoulí, Jauolí, Hauolí (Guarijia): Sonora
- Pentamum, pentamón and penhamu (Tarascan): Michoacán
- Cypress: Tamaulipas
- Cypress: Chiapas
- Sabino: Durango, San Luis Potosí and Oaxaca
- Montezuma Cypress: Oaxaca, Valley of Mexico
- Tnuyucu or yucu-ndatura (Mixtec): Oaxaca
- Yagaguichiciña, Yaga-Chichiano, Yaga-Guichixiña (Zapotec): Oaxaca
- Bochil: Chiapas
- Cedar: Sonora
- Mateoco (taraumara): Chihuahua
- Nauño (mixe): Oaxaca
- Quitsinaui (Zoque): Chiapas
- Ndoxinda (popoluca): Puebla
- Chiche (Huastec): San Luis Potosi
more of his story
In addition, throughout history this species has received “preferential” treatment, since in ancient times they were considered sacred and ceremonial, so the Aztecs, mainly, brought them offerings and placed altars.
While, if it is about its presence and importance, it highlights the “tule tree”, located in Santa María de Tule, oaxacawhere each year it receives thousands of tourists, who seek to know it, after it is estimated that this specimen is 2,000 years old.
Read more: What are the benefits of ahuehuete?
To this is added “Sargeant”, also known as “El Sentinel”, which reaches 500 years of age in the middle of the Chapultepec Forestin CDMX, although he is only 15 of the 40 meters he reached in his youth, drying up much of it during the 1960s, although he refuses to die.
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