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The tradition in Mexico of decoration of the churches with flowers and foliage has its origin in the prehispanic period. These customs still exist. In contemporary religious celebrations and popular festivities, the use of floral elements expresses the cultural development of people. Puebla, the city which maintains traditions, has its own style of life and also its own style for decorating churches during religious celebrations, especially the weddings. The objective of this paper is to give the knowledge of species used for the church decoration and elaboration of bouquets of a bride for the wedding ceremonies in Puebla. Research was done in 14 churches, 10 flower shops and 2 markets. The lists of species, arrangement distribution in the churches, the vases and cost of arrangements are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The black sapote, commonly called "chocolate pudding fruit", is the family Ebenaceae. This fruit tree, native to Mexico, grows best in coastal areas from Jalisco to Chiapas,Veracruz and Yucatan. Black sapote has been cultivated in South Florida in home gardens and patios, in fruit collections, and to a small extent in commercial orchards. The tree is appreciated as an ornamental and also produces a large quantity of fruit. The tree is usually dioecious, with small axillary flowers with have a persistent calyx. Propagation is by seed or by grafting. Grafting is the recommended way to guarantee the sex of the plants and the quality of their fruit. The methods evaluated here are cleft grafting and veneer grafting, using scions 6 months of age. Most of the trees grown in South Florida have been propagated by seed, but some superior selections have been grafted and sold by nurserymen. A selection named 'Merida' was made at the University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center (Homestead, Florida) and propagated by grafting. The information in this paper increases our knowledge and the economic viabilily of the black sapote in Tropical America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]