Someone on the La Manzanilla message board posted the first foto which is a bit unusual but this type of support post for ramadas in front of stores or houses is not. They are actually very common around here even though quite expensive. I assume a special name for them but neighbors and Internet are not helping.
I have two examples on neighboring lots but they are way, way past the usable or attractive stage. This Ficus or Fig is very much like the Mexican Mistletoe in a previous post. They both start high in a tree with the droppings of birds and eventually strangle the host and become a tree in the same place. Roots either hang or "climb" down the trunk which is what the foto is.
Neighbor did say the attractive and usable ones are found in the mountains and there's a guy in Jaluco that gets them as a business. The cost comes from getting them out of the woods, stripping all the bark and garbage and preserving them with diesel and later varnish. You can't drive around with a truck full of freshly cut trees in Mexico without a permit but these may be exempt since they are really a parasite and a dead tree. Would be interesting to know a little more.
Just figured out that "higuera" is the generic Spanish name for fig but there are many, many varieties.
Ramada support post
Strangling fig has totally taken over on lot next door
Around the corner even larger with roots hanging
