Papelillo

The papelillo is perhaps the most easily identified tree in the wilderness because of its red peeling bark.

You can easily spot them as you travel Highway 200 especially in the mountains between Sayulita and Bucerias. An easy place to view good sized specimens is the path from Los Ayala beach to Kissing Beach. Once you learn to recognize them you will quickly realize that they really are almost everywhere.

In the wild they are plentiful and appear to be a fast growing tree.

The tree is often used for fence posts because it is plentiful and rather than rot it starts to grow. Here is a picture of a recently built fence which is showing good growth.

This picture shows a row of older trees which appear to have started as fence posts.

Our “revisit” tree is located on the highway between La Peñita and Las Varas. In late March it is without leaves but full of buds that look ready to burst open.