Pochote

Description

Pachira quinata, commonly known as Pochote, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It inhabits dry forests in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia. Pochotes bear large, stubby thorns on their trunk and branches and are often planted as living fenceposts with barbed wire strung between them. Those thorns are also often used to make small house-like sculptures that are believed to bring protection to someone's house since the Pochote is believed to be sacred. The tree is largely plantation grown in Costa Rica for its lumber, which is an ideal, remarkably stable softwood similar in working properties to Cedrela odorata. It is one of the most inexpensive woods in Costa Rica despite its use in furniture, guitar marking, and other fine woodcrafts.