A guásimo fighting on several fronts

At Loma del Alcón, Michel Salas stopped beneath an old guásimo and looked up: the blue sky filtered through the branches more easily than it should have, because the canopy was thin. From below, everything was visible — the thick, rough trunk riddled with cavities carved out by woodpeckers or wood-boring insects, and tangled among the upper branches, the unmistakable silhouette of a Loranthaceae, that parasitic plant that drives its roots into another's wood and simply stays. The tree, however, has not yet had its final say. Some branches still hold green leaves — a sign that somewhere inside, a current of life continues to move. But the picture is that of an organism under siege: the parasite claiming the canopy, the cavities hollowing out the trunk, the foliage retreating inch by inch. Michel took two photographs, recorded the coordinates, and noted down the find. Here at Loma del Alcón, this guásimo is now marked — still imposing, still holding on, but clearly under strain — so that the sanctuary knows where it stands and can keep a finger on its pulse.