The Tree of Sorrow

Arbor tristus was believed to be a native South American tree, which bloomed at night and had a trunk in the shape of a woman's body. Legend has it that the daughter of the mighty chief and warrior Parizataco fell in love with the sun. The sun rejected her and the beautiful princess went into the wilderness to seek solitude and peace to grieve. She never got over her loss, however, and could bare the pain of rejection and lovelessness no longer and killed herself.

Her body was eventually found by her people and cremated. From the ashes sprouted the tree of sorrow, whose blossoms opened under the light of the moon and stars but closed at the first hint of the sun. In the daytime, the leaves withered, and the tree appeared dead. And whenever a human hand touched the blooming tree in the calm of the night, the flowers closed shut and their sweet perfume vanished.