The Snake Tree October 11, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
Beach was innocently looking for stories about human bodies in trees. This one has no human body, but it seemed too good to waste.
A correspondent of the Horticultural Times contributes the following account of the so-called snake tree, which is said to exert such a terrifying influence upon the natives of the Mexican Wilds.
This can only suggest that it exists in Mexican folklore. There is no obvious trace in the reference guides.
A late traveller was in Mexico on a botanical expedition One day he observed a dark object on one of the outlying spurs of the Sierra Madre Mountains, which so excited his curiosity he examined it carefully through his field glass. He saw it was a tree of such an unusual appearance, he decided to visit the spot. He rode on horseback to within a few rods of the summit, when he came to an abrupt rise he could not climb. On the top stood the tree. He saw it had long slender limbs, drooping like a weeping willow. They had a slimy, smoky appearance, and at times the whole tree seemed to writhe. His curiosity led him again and again to visit the spot to learn more, if possible, about this a horrible tree. One day be saw a bird circle about it for sometime, and then alight on the top. Then the branches began to move and curl upward. They turned, around the bird, which began to cry, and drew it down until he lost, sight of it. The botanist tried, as he had several times before, to climb the steep. The rock on which he stepped loosened and fell, himself with it. He was not injured, and he found that the rock had left quite a cavity. He looked in and saw quite a cavern, and felt a current of fresh air blowing on his face. With his trowel he enlarged the hole so as to admit of his ascent. He saw the flattened body of the bird fall to the ground, which was covered with bones and feathers. He approached the tree as closely as he dared. It was not above 20 feet in height, but covered a great area. Its trunk was of prodigious thickness, knotted and scaly. From the top of this trunk, a few feet from the ground, its slimy branches curved upward and downward, nearly touching the ground with their tips. On his venturing to touch lightly one of the limbs it closed upon his hand with such force it tore the skin when he wrenched it away. The next day he visited the tree, carrying several chickens with which to feed it. The moment he tossed the fowls into the branches they began to sway to and fro with a snaky motion. After they had become gorged they were perfectly quiet, and he ventured to approach and examine them closely. They were covered with suckers similar to those of the octopus. The blood, of the fowls had been absorbed, leaving crimson stains on their surface. There was no foliage whatever on the tree. Hants Tel, 24 Sept 1892, 12
Creepy. Beach has a vague memory of a man-eating tree on one of the pacific islands: any other carnivorous trees, drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com
Some great emails here.
17 Oct 2015, Typhon writes:
You picked a very interesting subject with the mexican snake tree! I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of man-eating and generally carnivorous plants…
So here some stuff that might be of interest to you, concerning this subject: General articles about man-eating trees by Shuker (Covers nearly everything) and on Wikipedia (very good article, covering some trees that arent mentioned in the article above)
Two trees legendary for being poisonous and fertilizing their roots with the dead: (1) (scroll down to the poison part) (2)
Further articles concerning very poisonous trees and the effect on birds and mammals: (1) (2) (3)
And last but not least an actual plant that sometimes captures sheep and bird: (1) (2)
I just stumbled on this lovely article (original source is an Indian newspaper): This time we have a cow-eating tree in India. Even though I love carnivorous plants, Ive never heard of this one. Therefore I thought I would share it with you, as it is an interesting read and definitively an anomaly. And here is more or less the same article but with a very nice and old (it probably is) looking illustration you might like for your articles on man-eating trees.
Hutch writes: In your discussion this past October 11 of the marvelously Lovecraftian account of a Mexican “Snake Tree”, you mention having “a vague memory of a man-eating tree on one of the pacific islands”. Here’s a pretty comprehensive discussion of that bit of folklore — . I’d read an article on the subject some 20 years ago, but was unaware that the story had first been publicly debunked only 14 years after it was first told, and has simply refused to stay dead since. The Mexican tree seems as unlikely as its older Malagasy counterpart, but I wonder if they could share some folkloric kinship in the idle newsrooms of the 19th century.
15 Nov 2015: Bruce T writes in ‘Malagasy is based on the Barito language of northern Borneo. The initial Austronesian population of Madagascar has been shone by DNA to be from roughly 30 women, very likely from this region, as the population of Madagascar remains low for some time after it’s settlement, due to it’s distance from the origins of it’s colonization. The culture seems to remain, no pun intended, insular due to the distance. If the Snake Tree legend came with the Austronesian’s, we’re back in northern Borneo. Accounting for the possibility, the Snake Tree legend arrived from India some time later, a tradition Hutch also mentions, it’s still part of the Indianized cultures of Island Southeast Asia from 600-200 BCE to 1500 CE.
To keep it simple here’s my little hypothesis. The Snake Tree Legend is common in northern Borneo at the time of the Barito departure, circa 500 CE. It’s also known by the cultures of India. The trade of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea is dominated by the Indianized elites of empires concentrated Sumatra, Java, and the Malay Peninsula. These empires control both the China trade and the Spice trade, with some exceptions for 1000 years starting in roughly 500 CE. Common cultures, common tales in a prosperous well connected world.
In the 1560’s what happens? Spain after taking parts of the Philippines, begins the the Manila galleon trade. The route goes from Acapulco to Manila and back again. After the trade is established for a few years, the crews become largely Austronesian drawn from nearby islands. Some of the peoples of Northern Borneo are related to many of the peoples of the southern Philippines and close by.
The route is completed in Mexico via land to Veracruz, and then on by ship to Spain. The entire voyage is a circuit, always in motion, taking roughly 18 months to complete. It goes on, nearly unstopped, until the early 19th century. The whole time these Austronesian sailors, with some Chinese, are coming to Mexico, hanging around waiting for the winds to change, exchanging stories and genetics with the local population.
I’m sure you see what I’m getting at, I think the Snake Tree idea may have came from the Philippines to Western Mexico. The trees I mentioned at the bottom of the page in the link on “Spanish Sacrifices”? They’re common in the hills of Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located. The first Austronesian who believed the Snake Tree story and saw one of those may have run for his life.
One last thing, it could be syncretic. The Aztecs had the legend of traveling south following a prophesied snake in cactus south until they reached the Valley of Mexico. The Aztec’s are thought to have come from northwestern Mexico including areas along the coast. I could see the myth the traveler mentions being brought by sailors of the Galleon trade mixing with a similar myths among local fishermen and porters.
That the fellow’s adventure happened on steep rocky hill intrigues me. Could it be he was relaying a tale involving run down pre-conquest ceremonial site that was once associated the snake and the cacti by the locals and transformed into an association with the later arriving overlying myth by our hero’s time.
Frankly, the entire adventure sounds like a whopper, but their was significant mixing of peoples in the region due to the many epidemics introduced and reintroduced during the Colonial period decimating the native population. Asian sailors settling in the region were critical in the face the labor shortages caused by those epidemics and the immunity supplied in their genes in mixing with the natives significant in taming many “childhood” diseases taking young and old alike in great numbers among the local population. The dual mythos could have become intertwined as well.
Sorry for the length. I’m a windy old goat.’
Thanks Bruce!
