Hernandez, delegate of the Antonio Nuñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Man in the province of Sancti Spiritus talked to Prensa Latina about the symbolism of this plant that makes all Cubans so proud as far as the times of Columbus’s conquest.

Since the discovery of the New World, of the Caribbean, the plant defied the heights in the forests, its plumes agitated by the winds were the motivation of curiosity of the chroniclers of the time. They can reach or exceed a century of life. Experts on cultivating trees consider that the palm tree, for its robust and straight trunk, in the midst of great winds and storms, can sway from its birth to the dome, however, as enemies of its height are electric discharges.

Hernandez, with a vast knowledge of the regional wildlife, assures that it is native of Cuba with presence in regions of Latin America and in the south of the United States; for its easy adaptation it is in almost all countries in settings of parks and cities.

In the province of Sancti Spiritus, it is found in northern, central and part of the mountains, with a singular presence in the plains of Yaguajay from the Sierra de Bamburanao to coastal areas.

The Roystonea genus is composed of 10 closely related species, distributed in islands, where 15 genera and 98 infrageneric taxa in 80 species are represented.

For the scholar, it is a plant where everything can be used for human benefit and diversity of birds and animals: its trunk, stalks, particularly its fruit alias palmiche is used as food for pigs and is a source of oil.

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