Custard Apple - El Salvador

Joya de Cerén was thriving agricultural village in the Zapotitan Valley. The site was threatened by an eruption of the Ilopango volcano in 200 AD and buried in 590 AD by the eruption of Loma Caldera. The pristine archaeological conditions of this site has earned it the title of being the “Pompeii” of the New World.

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Annona reticulata - The custard apple tree is native to the Caribbean and Central American regions. The flesh of the custard apple has a creamy white texture and is used as an flavoring ingredient in beverages and ice cream. It belongs to the Annonaceae family and includes soursop, sweetsop, and cherimoya. The custard apple is not as desirable as the other Annonaceae species because of the inconsistency of taste and texture. Having a low seed count is one popular feature of the custard apple; some trees produce seedless fruit.

Tent Olive - El Salvador

Oliva porphyria - The tent olive is one of about 10 mollusk species within the Olividae family. The tent olive remains buried beneath a shallow layer of sand or mud during the day and emerges at night to begin the search for food. They use their powerful foot, an appendage large and strong enough to seize and drag their food source underneath the sand where it is then consumed. The tent olive ranges from 30 to 135 millimeters in length and is found from the Gulf of California to Peru.

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El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. The first people to settle the region were the Pipils, also known as Cuzcatlecs. They established a loosely defined state known as Cuzcatlán, a confederation subdivided into city states and small chiefdoms. The Pipils were skilled in weaving cotton textiles and cultivated cacao, a commodity traded as far north as Teotihuacan. The Cuzcatlán state fell with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in the early 16th century.