Belly palms

The sun had sunk to the horizon. Suddenly, Brother fr?re L?on touched my arm: "Look, a Colpothrinax Wrightii! " And I saw a strange palm, one you can never forget after you've seen it: a Belly Palm, one of the few examples of ridiculous plants. Another thesis topic!

In Royal Palm, this "pregnancy" is purely accidental, here it is specific. What is the meaning of this strange feature?

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Whatever the case, the plant that I will dub the Camel of the Palms, or the Camel-Palm (!), offers its hemp to the Cuban guajiro [peasant]. He can turn it into a barrel [in these two pictures], beehive or water through.

Trough made from a belly palm

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Further on, people were crossing a river in a craft made from two hollowed out Colpothrinax "bellies". It's an entirely different life, an ancient way of life adapted perfectly to the natural environment in the Sierra de Los Organos.

Marie-Victorin and Brother L?on seated
in carved out "belly palms".

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JBM	Colpothrinax Wrightii Belly palms grow only in Pinar del Rio and on the Isle of Pines. The species is threatened today.

Under the Cuban Sun with Marie-Victorin [Jardin botanique de Montréal]