Our travels this morning took us to Puerto Refugio, a protected bay at the north end of Isla Angel de la Guarda, the second largest island in the Gulf of the California.
This fascinating island was born one million years ago when it was faulted away from the Baja California peninsula, and is one of the few gulf islands that is home to the elephant tree (Pachycormus discolor). The stocky, thick trunk of this tree, which acts as a water storage organ, resembles an elephant leg, hence the name.
While several woody tree species bear a similar common name, this particular species, a member of the cashew family, is endemic to the Baja California peninsula. This particular tree is seen growing on 20 million year-old red sandstones that were laid down along the Mexican mainland, before the Baja California peninsula was splintered away five million years ago.
