Resident donates tree seeds

A Mexicali resident donated to the city of Mexicali seeds of a Chinese tree known as Pawlonia that purifies water, nurtures soil and provides more oxygen than average plants.

Gustavo Eduardo Rodríguez Galaviz said the goal of giving away the 2,000 seeds to the Municipal Environmental Education Center is to reproduce the plant to sow the trees all over the city.

Mexicali’s Environmental Protection Director Luis Flores Solís received the seeds as part of a personal project launched by the local resident.

The city said the tree, also known as “Kiri” tree or “Empress” tree, consumes more carbon dioxide and produces more oxygen than the rest of trees due to its large leaves and metabolic characteristics.

Pawlonias are also more resistant to illnesses and plagues, grows faster than other trees — up to an inch a day — adapts even to soils impacted by synthetic substances, and tolerates drought and fire.

— Arturo Bojorquez. abojorquez@ivpressonline.com