Mexico
Mitla and El Tule
The small town of Mitla is especially known for the ruins of the religious centers of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. The image here depicts the "Patio de Mosaicos".
In the area one can find a saxicolous Tillandsia-species named after the location: Tillandsia mitlaensis.On the road from Oaxaca to Mitla one passes El Tule, renowned for a kind of cypress called "ahuehuete". It is said to be the largest single biomass on earth, the tree measures 58 meters around and is more than 2000 years old.
Turning your back to it, in the distance about 2 kilometers away a grey and white rock-formation can be seen.
Cross the road, wade through a little stream and head for the rocks.
After passing a refuse dump you are not far from an encounter with Tillandsia mitlaensis var. tulensis, a stem-forming variety of this saxicole species.
Here also grows the terrestrial bromeliad Hechtia pringlei.
