Casa Pancho Rústica ~ Flora in the Farm

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Flora en el Finca (Plants on the Farm)

This page is dedicated to some of the different kinds of plants you will encounter on your visit to Casa Pancho Rústica.

Cidra

The town of Cidra takes its name of a lemon like fruit that you will find growing near Casa Pancho Rústica. The fruits of the Cidra are very large with a think skin covering a fruit that is more bitter than the standard lemon most of us are accustomed to seeing in the grocery stores.

Most of the commercial production of Cidras is the town of Adjuntas with the majority of the fruit being shipped to several areas in Europe to be used in Fruit Cakes. Local Puertorriqueños will use the thick rind to make candy.

Chayote

The chayote grows on a vine and is a member of the squash family. Some local people prepare the bland flesh as a baby food. Boiled and prepared in a salad it is very tasty. You can find a Recipe for Chayote, Avocado, and Watercress Salad with a Lime Vinaigrette dressing that is absolutely delicious.

For more information on the Chayote check out Plant-of-the-Week Gallery at Killerplants.com. Chelsie Vandaveer of Killerplants.com has published another photo of the Chayote taken on the farm in Cidra Puerto Rico along with her essay titled, How Did Domestication Change the Chayote? The chayote seems to mature very quickly and fruits at various stages of develop are usually seen.

Calabash

The Higüera or Calabash is a very interesting tree. On the trunk of this tree grows a fruit with a very woody skin. The native Taíno Indians had used the hard skin of this fruit for bowls and implements. Still today local artists use the Higüera in various creations. The seeds are scattered in the flesh on the order of a watermelon. However, the flesh is more course.

Once again Killerplants.com has published a Photo of Higüera that was taken at Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes near Ponce in their Plant of the Week Gallery. In that story more in-depth information can be found on how the Taíno Indians used this plant.