Cuajilote trees in Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo National Park

On the road between Santa Elena and Yaxha in Petén you can find Cuajilote trees (Parmentiera acueleata). On our October expedition, when we were heading to Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo National Park, we made a stop on the road to photograph this tree.

Its fruit was just ripe, one of them almost fell on us when we were photographing it.

Cuajilote-trees-Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo-National-Park

Botanical Description

Greenish cauliflower flowers, stems with thorns at the nodes. Its shape is a medium tree. Its bark is slightly fissured yellowish brown. The leaves are usually opposite with three leaflets or simple. Solitary or grouped flowers 5 to 6 cm long that grow directly from the trunk or at the ends of the branches, in this case the flowers are green with light pink or purple lines. The fruit is a bay of approximately 15 cm x 6 cm usually curved from yellowish to green (Peña & Kanpp, 2011). This plant prefers warm climates, but it can thrive in all types of soil (Red de Viveros de Biodiversidad, n.d.).

Uses

It is a fodder tree, which serves as food for wildlife and shade for pasture and firewood. It has medicinal uses; the aqueous extract of the flower, fruit, bark and root is used to cure kidney stones and asthma and cough discomforts. The root is also used as a diuretic. The wood can be used for carpentry (Red de Viveros de Biodiversidad, n.d.).

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Order	Lamiales
Family	Bignionaceae
Tribe	Crescentieae
Genus	Parmentiera
Species	Parmentiera acueleata
Common names	Cuajilote, Guajilote, Cacao de mono

References

PEÑA, M. and S. KNAPP
2011
Árboles del mundo maya. London, England: Natural History Museum: Pronatura Península de Yucatán: Fundación ProPetén: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. 263 pages.