Parque de la Ceiba
Encyclopedia
Parque de la Ceiba is a passive park in barrio San Antón
, Ponce, Puerto Rico
. Its centerpiece is the historic Ceiba tree, a tree associated with the founding of the city. Now surrounded by the park with the same name, the emblematic 500-year old Ceiba tree stands on the edge of the Ponce Historic Zone
. The park opened in 1984, under the administration of Mayor Jose Dapena Thompson
.
.
It has been said that this tree was already a large tree at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus
to the New World
. Reference is also made to a book that suggests the tree already existed in 1696, and a 1818 map of Ponce by Alejandro Ordóñez
shows the location of the tree.
word pronounced say-bah. Ceiba is one of the largest and tallest trees in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere
. They have been known to reach heights of over 180 feet. The tree is closely related to the peculiar baobab trees of Africa. The Ceiba tree is also Puerto Rico’s official national tree.
than cork. As such it was used as the flotation for early life preservers. In addition to these attributes, the fiber fully repels water, has a low thermal conductivity and is resistant to rot. A little known fact is that before synthetics were used for insulation materials, mattresses and pillows, these were stuffed with the fiber of the Ceiba tree fruit. It was recently discovered that the absorption capacity of this fiber is also higher than that of the polypropylene material normally used in the cleanup of environmental oil spill
s. "The wood of the Ceiba tree is exceedingly lightweight and easily worked. However, because it lacks durability and is susceptible to insects and decay, it was mostly used for the construction of large canoes by the indigenous inhabitants of the region." Canoes made of Ceiba tree trunks were able to seat over 100 men.
’s first impressionist
landscape masterpiece (1888) and on display at the Museo de Arte de Ponce.
San Antón
San Antón is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, and Portugués Urbano, San Antón is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are now also part of the urban zone of the city of Ponce. It is...
, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
. Its centerpiece is the historic Ceiba tree, a tree associated with the founding of the city. Now surrounded by the park with the same name, the emblematic 500-year old Ceiba tree stands on the edge of the Ponce Historic Zone
Ponce Historic Zone
The Ponce Historic Zone is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico with construction that dates to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone was originally designated in 1962, and then it only included the center core of the city, but it has since been expanded to...
. The park opened in 1984, under the administration of Mayor Jose Dapena Thompson
José Dapena Thompson
José Joaquin Dapena Thompson, known as Josito, was a Puerto Rican politician and Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1986 to 1988.-Training:...
.
Location
The park is located on Comercio street, next to Rio Portugues in the Cuatro Calles sector of barrio San Antón. Today the area is a mixed residential/commercial area on urban route PR-133. The park is managed by the Ponce municipal government. The tree is about half a mile east of Plaza Las DeliciasPlaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within Plaza Las Delicias. Plaza Las Delicias is actually composed of...
.
History
The park sits on an area believed to have been the site of the first settlement of Europeans in the Ponce region. "In the surroundings of the legendary Ceiba de Ponce, broken pieces of indigenous pottery, shells, and stones were found to confirm the presence of Taino Indians long before the Spaniards that latter settled in the area."It has been said that this tree was already a large tree at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Reference is also made to a book that suggests the tree already existed in 1696, and a 1818 map of Ponce by Alejandro Ordóñez
Alejandro Ordóñez
Alejandro Ordóñez was Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1816. He created the first known map of Ponce in 1818.There is a street in Urbanizacion Las Delicias of Barrio Magueyes in Ponce named after him.-References:...
shows the location of the tree.
The tree
The feature of the park is the historic centuries-old tree. The tree is also known as kapok tree and silk cotton tree. The scientific name of the tree is Ceiba pentandra. The legendary tree belongs to the genus ceiba, of the species Pentandra, and the family Bombacaceae. The word Ceiba comes from a TainoTaíno language
Taíno, an Arawakan language, was the principal language of the Caribbean islands at the time of the Spanish Conquest, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Florida Keys, and the Lesser Antilles...
word pronounced say-bah. Ceiba is one of the largest and tallest trees in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. They have been known to reach heights of over 180 feet. The tree is closely related to the peculiar baobab trees of Africa. The Ceiba tree is also Puerto Rico’s official national tree.
Conservation
The tree has recently been decaying and, on 30 December 2006, it lost a large limb that accounted for some 30% of its foliage at that time. The canalization of the Portugues River and the development of a nearby recreational area have been mentioned as possible causes for the rapid deterioration of the tree in recent years. In June 2009, the environmentalist group ProOrnato Inc and the government of the municipality of Ponce joined efforts to preserve the old tree in a weekend-long event. On 18 July 2011, however, the tree lost another large limb. After this event, only 35% of the remaining tree was estimated to still be alive.Characteristics
The fruit of the Ceiba tree contains a fiber that is eight time lighter than cotton and five times more buoyantBuoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
than cork. As such it was used as the flotation for early life preservers. In addition to these attributes, the fiber fully repels water, has a low thermal conductivity and is resistant to rot. A little known fact is that before synthetics were used for insulation materials, mattresses and pillows, these were stuffed with the fiber of the Ceiba tree fruit. It was recently discovered that the absorption capacity of this fiber is also higher than that of the polypropylene material normally used in the cleanup of environmental oil spill
Oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is mostly used to describe marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters...
s. "The wood of the Ceiba tree is exceedingly lightweight and easily worked. However, because it lacks durability and is susceptible to insects and decay, it was mostly used for the construction of large canoes by the indigenous inhabitants of the region." Canoes made of Ceiba tree trunks were able to seat over 100 men.
In the arts
La Ceiba de Ponce is depicted in Francisco OllerFrancisco Oller
Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero was a Puerto Rican visual artist. Oller is considered to be the only Latin American painter to have played a role in the development of Impressionism.-Early years:...
’s first impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
landscape masterpiece (1888) and on display at the Museo de Arte de Ponce.