FLOWERS OF THE VOLCANO

The mountains of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas are rich in orchids and other flowering plants, such as the state famous antorcha shown above.

Text and photos by David Díaz Gómez

The Tacana volcano, the highest point along Mexico's southern border, links the Sierra Madre mountains in Chiapas and the continent's central mountain range. Tacana, which means 'house of fire' in the Mam dialect, has the same geological structure as volcanoes found in the Andes of South America. With a base of approximately ten kilometers in diameter and a peak that reaches four thousand thirty meters above sea level, the Tacana is part of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range. This elevation is a sixty kilometer wide—on average—wall of peaks that extends for two hundred forty kilometers from the interior toward a narrow plain known as the Soconusco, a large stretch of land along the Pacific coast only thirty five kilometers wide at its thickest point.

    El Tacana is known throughout the region as the "Lighthouse of the South". It is the main reference point for the inhabitants of Soconusco, and since it is visible for several nautical miles out to sea, sailors know they've entered Mexico's territorial waters as soon as they can see it.

    Together the Soconusco and El Tacana, coast and mountain, form a unique ecological environment. The region receives more rainfall than any other area in Mexico, with annual precipitation on the skirts of the volcano averaging between five and six thousand mm, an amount equaled only by some Hawaiian islands and the mountainous regions of Indonesia.

    Today, vast expanses of woodlands between the foot of the volcano and the Sierra Madre are taken up by coffee plantations. Most varieties of coffee require shade, a need that has been a major factor in stopping deforestation in the area. There are many gorges and slopes blanketed by lush vegetation, and almost always covered by a fine mist. Amongst this wealth of flora is the capote or "poor man's cloak" used by the locals as makeshift raincoats; arboreal ferns dating from the time of the dinosaurs appear like living fossils. There is a native banana plant, the platanillo, a non-edible variety famous for its long lovely stalks with their vermilion, red and yellow-colored flowers.

    The region is home to a wide range of wildlife, which is especially abundant in the more remote areas of the Sierra at high altitudes. Large mammals such as puma, wild boar and deer, and a large variety of birds including the wild turkey, live here. The spectrum of native plants is overwhelming. In the eternal twilight of the forest, giant trees, clinging ferns and vines compete for the tenuous sunlight filtering through the thick canopy of the forest.

    The Sierra Madre de Chiapas houses a concentration of the vegetation found throughout the state of Chiapas. The jungles at sea level and the high forests are filled with plant species native to the varying altitudes. The lowlands are covered with high tropical jungle; climbing past five hundred meters, the vegetation changes little by little into that found in cloud forests and deciduous forests. Over the two thousand meter mark, one encounters high timber pine, holm oak and conifers. The crests of the Sierra Madre and El Tacana are only visible from the Soconusco coast in the early hours of the morning. Long before noon, the silhouette of the mountains disappears behind a thick curtain of clouds.

    This world of tropical mist is governed by enormous trees like the mezcal, the tallest tree in Chiapas, reaching over eighty meters in height and spanning six meters in diameter, and the matapalo, a huge parasitic plant of the ficus family that applies a stranglehold on trees, slowly choking them with its aerial root system as it reaches for the sky. There are unusual trees like the palo de chiche whose seeds look like a woman's breast, and the hormiguillo. There are also beautiful flowering trees such as the matilisguate and the primavero; springtime sees the first covered with lilac-colored flowers and the second with bright, yellow blooms.

    The high altitude jungles and woods are also filled with epiphytes, small aerial plants that attach themselves to tree trunks and feed off the humidity in the air. Moss, lichen and fern cleave together blanketing every possible surface, draped with the spectacular blooms of single-flowering plants like the orchid and the pashte, the latter a 'climber' whose gray stems hang a meter and a half or more and whose appearance is reminiscent of old men's beards. El Tacana is the only place, on Mexico's entire southern border region, where an authentic moor is to be found. Above three thousand meters altitude the forests disappear and clearings with scrub and tundra, along with large denuded areas, appear. According to volcanologist, thin layers of ice forming on ponds, the appearance of frost, and the occasional light snowfall are common at these altitudes.

    The "Lighthouse of the South," as the Tacana is called, has enormous eco-tourism potential. It is more than just a point along the border separating two exciting nations—it is the link in the heart of the Mundo Maya that joins the mountain ranges of North and Central American.