Divi Divi Trees 0931 #1
by Jack Schultz
Title
Divi Divi Trees 0931 #1
Artist
Jack Schultz
Medium
Photograph
Description
The famous Divi Divi tree is Aruba's natural compass, always pointing in a southwesterly direction due to the trade winds that blow across the island from the north-east. Aruba's trademark: the Divi Divi or watapana tree.
In Aruba, the tree is never straight due to the trade winds. The divi divi tree is a natural compass on Aruba. The trunk usually is bent at a 90 degree angle, parallel to the ground pointing in a southwesterly direction.
The tree's unique shape and its compass direction are due to the trade winds that blow from the northeast across Aruba.
This tree is native to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and northern part of South America. It is the national tree of Curacao. It can grow to a height of 30 feet [9 meters]. But it's usually much shorter. It's said that attempts to grow this tree in other parts of the world have been unsuccessful. The Divi Divi seems happiest where it's already planted.
According to the Guide to Caribbean vacations, the divi-divi was imported from Africa because over millions of years it evolved elaborate defenses against herbivores such as the wild goats which thrive in Aruba. Goats avoid divi-divis because the tough-looking bark has a high concentration of tannic acid, which destroys an important protozoan herbivores need for digestion.
The middle part of the pericarp contains tannins (about 42 percent of its weight). Divi-divi is used chiefly for tanning leather and manufacturing. Leather cured with divi-divi is as good as that tanned with oak bark. Also used for tanning leather is the straight or slightly twisted fruit of the tree C. paipae, called false divi-divi. The pods are said to be true astringent, yielding a black dye. The tannin was exported to Holland, where it was used in tanneries (which converted animal hides into leather).
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July 14th, 2014
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