The Miracle Tree

The tree on the right is the Miracle Tree. If you look closely, you can see
the Mama behind the rose bush.

The First Husband gave the Mama a package of seeds that a Native American tribe had sent him as part of a fundraising campaign. Mama, always the curious horticulturist, sowed them in her backyard. From those seeds grew the Miracle Tree, which today is more than 20 years old.

It would be monstrously huge  if the Mama did not cut it back nearly every year. She can't stand the idea of the branches hovering over the roof or even being near the gutters. No matter how much it gets hacked back in the late fall, its branches are full and ready to provide sufficient shade for the summer heat.

During its early years, the Miracle Tree produced a lot of seed pods. Let me repeat: A lot of them. The seeds are flat and shiny and difficult to clean up once they're on the ground. Every year, Miracle Trees sprout some where new in the yard. Most times, the Mama pulls them out.

The Miracle Tree is not its actual name. The Mama and I like to call it that because it grew from a few seeds. We are not sure what the tree is  called. The Husband and I have seen trees that look like the Miracle Tree in Hawaii. Koa trees, I think they were called. The Miracle Tree could be a Mimosa Tree or related to it. Herbalists make a tincture out of the Mimosa flowers. An acupuncturist had me take the tincture to help mellow me out. (I was a bit angry when we first began our sessions. But, then he was always late. That's for another tale. Maybe.)

The Mama says that Miracle Trees grow in the Philippines. The old folks, she says, harvested the leaves and flowers to feed to the pigs. And, some of the women made purses out of the seeds.

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On some days, the Mama gripes about the constant trimming she must do to the Miracle Tree. She threatens to pull it out now and then, but I doubt she will. She enjoys sitting beneath its shade in the summer. And, now, she has a new purpose for the tree. Last year, she planted a chayote at the foot of its trunk, just to see what might happen. Chayote vines grew upward into the tree and produced a large crop of chayotes to the Mama's delight. Last week, she planted several of last year's crop around the Miracle Tree.