Lower rainfall leads to the hardier growth of the thorn forest—domain of the pea family— the legumes marked in late winter and spring by bursts of red, yellow, pink, and white flowers. Look closely at the blossoms and you will see they resemble the familiar wild sweet pea of North America. Even when the blossoms are gone, you can identify them by seed pods that hang from the branches. Local folks call them by many names. These include the tabachín, the scarlet Mexican bird of paradise; and its close relative the flamboyán, or royal poinciana, an import from Africa, where it’s called the flame tree.
Other spectacular members of the pea family include the bright-yellow abejón, which blooms nearly year-round; and the coapinol, marked by hosts of white blooms (March–July) and large dark-brown pods. Not only colorful but useful is the fishfuddle, with pink flowers and long pods, from which fisherfolk derive a fish-stunning poison.
More abundant (although not so noticeable) are the legumes’ cousins, the acacias and mimosas. Long swaths of thorn forest grow right to the coastal highway and side-road pavements, so that the road appears tunnel-like through a tangle of brushy acacia trees. Pull completely off the road for a look and you will spot the small yellow flower balls, ferny leaves, and long, narrow pods of the boat spine acacia, or quisache tempamo (Acacia cochliacantha). Take care, however, around the acacias; some of the long-thorned varieties harbor nectar-feeding, biting ants.
Perhaps the most dramatic member of the thorn community is the morning glory tree, or palo blanco (Ipomoea aborescens), which announces the winter dry season by a festoon of white trumpets atop its crown of seemingly dead branches.
The Mexican penchant for making fun of death shows in the alternate name for palo del muerto, or the tree of the dead. It is also called palo bobo (fool tree) in some locales, because folks believe if you take a drink from a stream near its foot, you will go crazy.
The cactus are among the thorn forest’s sturdiest and most spectacular inhabitants. Occasional specimens of the spectacular candelabra cactus, or candelabro (Stenocereus weberi), spread as much as 40 feet (12 m) tall and wide.
© Bruce Whipperman from Moon Puerto Vallarta, 7th edition