Ceiba, the "Drunken Tree"

Native to the humid borderlands of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, the "drunken trees" always attract the gaze of tourists who smile when they hear the common name that we, the porteños, give them.

In urban areas, they are suitable for avenues and green spaces, thanks to the mature plant volume.

Their thickened trunks covered with thorns, their spring leaves full of bronze tints, their large and pink flowers that appear in summer and endure most of the fall.

Its time of greatest splendor is that of flowering, which lasts from February to April.

The tree would give them water, fish and seeds, and they did not have to work to obtain them, because there were always reserves in its wood.

There are many legends about the tree. One of the most beautiful has it that in the belly of the tree was home to the god of fish, who provided food for the entire aboriginal village.

One day, though, a greedy aboriginal boy could not resist the temptation and shot an arrow against the soft wood, which opened in a deep gash.

All the seeds, fish and water came out of it. The water poured to the lowlands and formed the rivers and wetlands. And so the natives had to learn to fish in order to eat.

Its habit is similar to Ceiba speciosa, perhaps a little lower, but its trunk is equally thickened. It also differs by the color of its flowers, which are creamy white or yellowish.

Native to Central America, this ceiba belongs to the group of trees that were most venerated by the native peoples of the area.

The flowers are brownish-white in color and, although it blooms rarely at the latitude of Buenos Aires, it cannot bear fruit or produce seeds here, due to the climatic differences with its place of origin.

Its trunk produces characteristic thorns, which give the bark a very particular appearance over the years.