Good-bye to the Palm

This past week I took a walk down a portion of the Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City's famous boulevard.  The Paseo has numerous traffic circles along its length which are called "glorietas".  Most of the "glorietas" feature monuments or fountains, but there was one which was dominated by a single, towering palm tree more than 100 years old.

(image taken from the internet)

Last weekend the palm was chopped down.  It was dying from a fungal disease, and needed to be removed.  It posed a danger if it should fall into the busy intersection.  There was a party held at the "glorieta" to say farewell to the tree.

I didn't attend the party, but I did want to see the now-empty "glorieta" where the palm once stood.

 

All that is left is a stump.  However, there is still a nearby Metrobus stop which is called "La Palma".

The government has put up a website in which people can vote on which kind of tree should be planted in the palm tree's place.  Even if you are not a resident of Mexico City, you are welcome to VOTE.  (The voting ends on May 1st.)  Currently in second place, is the choice to plant another "palma canaria".  That kind of palm is not native to Mexico but to the Canary Islands, and it is not really suited to the high-altitude climate of Mexico City.  It is a wonder that the old palm survived for a hundred years.  The leading choice right now, and the tree for which I voted, is the "alhuehuete", known in English as a Montezuma cypress.  It is native to the Mexican highlands, was sacred to some of the pre-Hispanic tribes, and it is the national tree of Mexico.

So, I wonder, if the cypress wins, will the Metrobus stop be changed to "El Alhuehuete"?