Quote of the day

“The plants that produce visions can function- for those of us who have inherited the New World Order of barren materialism, cut off from our spiritual heritage by a spiteful culture that gives us nothing but ashes- as the talismans of recognition that awaken our minds to reality.”  

-Daniel Pinchbeck, Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism

The Tree that Fruits on its Trunk 

Myrciaria cauliflora (JABOTICABA)

Jaboticaba is a beautiful, and strange fruit tree, which despite being from Brazil, is amazingly cold tolerant. The delicious fruit has a short shelf life, making it a poor choice as an orchard crop, but they are excellently suited as a dooryard fruit. Many different species of trees in the genus Myrciaria are referred to as jaboticaba in Brazil, but the species most commonly grown outside of Brazil is M. cauliflora.  

The word "jaboticaba" is said to have been derived from the Tupi term, jabotim, for turtle, and means "like turtle fat", presumably referring to the fruit pulp.

Jaboticaba trees are notorious for taking many years to begin producing. Growth is so slow that a seedling may take 3 years to reach 18 in (45 cm) in height. However, a seedling tree in sand at Orlando, Florida, was 15 ft (4.5 m) high when 10 years old. Others on limestone at the United States Department of Agriculture's Subtropical Horticulture Research Unit were shrubby and only 5 to 6 ft (1.5-1.8 m) high when 10 and 11 years old. Seedlings may not bear fruit until 8 to 15 years of age, though one seedling selection flowered in 4 to 5 years. Grafted trees have fruited in 7 years. One planted near Bradenton, Florida, in bagasse-enriched soil started bearing the 6th year. The fruit develops quickly, in 1 to 3 months, after flowering.

The flowers themselves appear on the tree at most twice a year –naturally.  They look like some strange alien creature that has deposited itself on the trunk and branches. The habit of flowers doing this makes them cauliflorous.   Instead of growing new shoots these plants flower direct from the woody trunk or stem. You might ask why it is this way.  The simple answer is that it has evolved in this manner so that animals that cannot climb very high can reach it, eat it and then expel the seeds away from the parent tree to further propagate the species.

The astringent decoction of the sun-dried skins is prescribed in Brazil as a treatment for hemoptysis, asthma, diarrhea and dysentery; also as a gargle for chronic inflammation of the tonsils. Such use also may lead to excessive consumption of tannin.

Trail Marker Trees

Across the U.S., you can find trees that are oddly shaped. Their trunks have odd kinks in them, or bend at strange angles. While some of them may indeed be simple quirks of nature, most of these trees are actually landmarks that helped guide indigenous people on their way. Native Americans would bend young trees to create permanent trail markers, designating safe paths through rough country and pointing travelers toward water, food or other important landmarks. Over the years, the trees have grown, keeping their original shape, but with their purpose all but forgotten as modern life sprang up around them. Today, we may not need these “trail trees” to navigate, but their place in history makes them invaluable. Imagine the stories these trees could tell.

Although the exact mechanics of how Native Americans bent the trees is unknown, Mountain Stewards has been able to shine light on the basics of the process.

The Indians took a small sapling and bent it horizontal to the ground. The tree was tied to the ground for a year, allowing it to grow into a bend. At the end of that year, the Indians would bend the tree again and begin shaping it for its particular function.  Marker trees typically had a “nose” on the front, which would atrophy or be cut off after the initial bending process.  The bending process usually took between five and 10 years.

Besides trail markers, the trees served as, prayer trees, medicine trees, campsite markers, witness trees and grave markers.  The Utes in the west used Ponderosa Pines as prayer trees. Every year during their spiritual pilgrimage, the tribe would return to their tree and continue the bending process. Once the process was complete, the Utes would offer tobacco to the tree because they believed their ancestors resided there.

The trees also played a part in human healing processes. The cambium layer of bark, inside the outer and inner layer of bark contains as much calcium as nine glasses of milk. Indians in some tribes would eat this bark to nourish themselves to survive the winter.

Many of the trees used as markers in the south were white oaks; these trees have been found to mark water and trails.  The Comanche Indians used pecan trees as campsite markers to mark favorable sites with high bluffs and flat ground near water.

Other marker trees known as “witness trees” were carved with messages that only Indians knew how to read. This practice was adopted by early American settlers for use in surveying.