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A14 LOCAL
Tuesday 5 November 2019

The Watapana tree Episode XLII

ORANJESTAD — Nowadays people erroneously call this tree Divi Divi.

1-Watapana tree “Caesalpinia coriaria”

2-Watapana seeds and leaves

For Aruba Watapana was a means of where on the island and the dried
living providing many with seasonal leaves and humus accumulated
work. The plucking of the Watapana- beneath are much sought after for
pod and the cutting of the wood, it their soil enriching qualities. Not in the
was very suitable for burning char- least this action meager the survival
coal, were legally protected. chances of the specimen.

Possibly the Divi Divi is a native tree, The whole of Aruba awoke to fresh
but it may also have been imported activity at harvest-time. Women and
and grown. At any rate we know that children went out with sticks and bas-
the Spaniards on Curacao tanned kets or gabs to beat the pods off the
skins with the Divi Divi-pods. Pods con- trees and gather them. They were to
tain tannic acid and gallic acid. The hand in wat they had gathered to
high tannin percentage of the ripe the owner each day, who paid them
pods was known before 1840. Mostly twenty-five Dutch cents for every bag
the tree is recognizable at a consider- containing slightly over 20 kilograms.
able distance by its “wind form”. Not The pods had to be examined in or-
a single species of tree has a wind- der to remove dirt and bits of stalk
form as typical as that of the Divi Divi. as well as unripe fruits, after this they
were dried in the sun for a few days.
The Watapana is a name used by the
whites and natives to call this fasci- The people sometimes plucked un-
nating tree. The name Guatapana ripe pods, such pods were put into the
(Spanish spelling) is also used in cer- ground where, after some days, they
tain regions of Cuba, Mexico, Puerto assumed a dark color and looked
Rico and Central America. something like ripe ones though they
hardly contained any tannin. Half-
Pods where called Divi Divi, under this ripe pods, pounded fine and boiled,
name it was brought on the market in yielded a pap sometimes used as a
Caracas, to be shipped to Spain. To- popular medicine to be applied to
day the real local name is being re- open sores of animals.
placed and forgotten.
Continued on Page 15
The Watapana grows almost any- 2-Watapana seeds and leaves