Ombú Vs. Pampas Grass As Symbol Of The Pampas

[yd_mtl]

Which is a more culturally significant plant symbol of the Pampas, in Argentina and Uruguay alike - the ombú "tree" or Pampas grass (aka cortadera or hierba de las pampas)?

 

[Gringoboy]

My abiding image of the Pampa are the eucalyptus trees.
Like here on a recent bike trip to Pergamino.

 

[rrptownley]

I'm not an expert on Pampean botany. As I understand it though there were no trees in the virgin pampas, so much so that when travelling gauchos went to lay down on their sleeping mats at night they would place their daggers into the ground on a northern bearing according to the stars because when they woke up it was difficult to get your bearings with no significant features other than flat grassy expanses until the horizon. It is a nice story but seems unlikely as the sun would be the best way to continue on your bearing.

The point is though is that the story suggests that the virgin pampas was just mainly grassland before european settlers planted trees to act as windbreaks and shade along routes and around estancia buildings.

 

[Girino]

Culturally, definitely el ombú!

But el álamo is the one I recall seeing most often outside of the city.

 

[yd_mtl]

Culturally, definitely el ombú!

Seems to me, then, that the cortadera is not as well admired by Argentines and Uruguayans as the ombú?

 

[Girino]

I think they just don't appreciate grass

I have been repeated so many times "This is the ombú, it's *the* typical tree of the Pampa..." that I have lost count!

 

[Bajo_cero2]

The Ombu is a giant bush, not a tree.and there were a lot.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

The Ombu is a giant bush, not a tree.and there were a lot.

 

[Girino]

You are right, I remember an estancia man telling me so and showing be a broken "branch" and saying "there is no wood here, just fibers".

 

[yd_mtl]

Let's ask a related question: If Argentina and/or Uruguay hadn't adopted the Sun of May as the national emblem (to put on flags, coats of arms, etc.), would they have adopted instead the ombú, or the ceibo, or the cortadera, or what (much like Canada has the maple leaf, Australia the golden wattle, and New Zealand the silver fern as national emblems - though the latter two not on their flags, yet)?