{"id":28585,"date":"2026-07-23T18:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.landuum.com\/interventions\/the-seeds-of-the-pedregal-inhabiting-another-time\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:21:54","slug":"the-seeds-of-the-pedregal-inhabiting-another-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.landuum.com\/en\/land-escape-en\/the-seeds-of-the-pedregal-inhabiting-another-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The seeds of the pedregal: Inhabiting another time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allison Cervantes Ayuso, in <\/span>The Seeds of the Pedregal: Inhabiting Another Time<\/b>, invites us to reflect on seeds as a way of reconnecting with the natural processes that sustain biodiversity. Seeds remind us that life never disappears; it remains dormant, waiting for the right moment to begin again.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a city that moves at a relentless pace, where our gaze is often lost among screens, automobiles, avenues, and rigid schedules, seeds invite us to inhabit a different sense of time. A slower time, shaped by the seasons, by waiting, and by the precise conditions required for germination. Finding them requires walking without haste, pausing before what appears ordinary, and learning to read the stories that the landscape preserves among rocks, crevices, leaf litter, and soil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeds invite us to inhabit a different rhythm: a slower pace, guided by the seasons, that allows us to read the stories the landscape holds.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Letrina de fauna silvestre entre rocas y grietas: semillas transportadas e ingeridas por animales que han germinado\/ Wildlife latrine among rocks and crevices: seeds transported and ingested by animals that have germinated
Fotograf\u00eda\/Photography: Allison Cervantes Ayuso<\/p><\/div>\n

With the end of the rainy season, subtle signs begin to emerge: dry fruits that remain on the branches, seeds trapped among rocks, and traces of animals that take part in their dispersal. These are indications of a life preparing to wait, patiently, until the return of the rains.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fotograf\u00eda izquierda: Semillas maduras listas para dispersarse y aguardar el regreso de las lluvias\/ Left photography: Mature seeds ready to disperse and await the return of the rains
Fotograf\u00eda derecha: Semillas de Dahlia coccinea, aguardan el viento o el movimiento del entorno para liberarse e iniciar un nuevo ciclo de vida\/ Right photography: Seeds of Dahlia coccinea, await the wind or the movement of their surroundings to be released and begin a new life cycle
Fotograf\u00eda\/Photography: Allison Cervantes Ayuso<\/p><\/div>\n

It is in the lava fields of the Xitle Volcano, in the southern part of Mexico City, where this experience takes on a special meaning. Between shades of yellow and ochre, where volcanic rock dominates the view and the landscape seems motionless, life remains in waiting. Each flower that colored the lava fields during the rainy season leaves behind a silent legacy: thousands of seeds resting among the scrubland and within the cracks of the lava.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Durante la temporada de secas, las semillas permanecen bajo rocas, hojarasca y suelo, aguardando la lluvia para reiniciar el ciclo de vida\/ During the dry season, seeds remain beneath rocks, leaf litter, and soil, awaiting the rain to restart the life cycle
Fotograf\u00eda\/Photography: Allison Cervantes Ayuso<\/p><\/div>\n

Latent, they await the first drops of rain to awaken. Then the volcano turns green once more, the rocks become covered with new shoots, and the landscape is transformed again. That is the magic of Xitle: to reveal that life never truly disappears; it simply waits for the right moment to begin anew.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along this journey, the history of the landscape begins to reveal itself: dahlias disperse their seeds with the wind; commelinas, after tinting the rocky ground with fleeting shades of blue, shelter their seeds within small structures that protect their development; and, in the latrines of wild fauna, seeds find new opportunities to germinate, giving rise to life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Con las lluvias, el pedregal reverdece: brotes y flores emergen, marcando el despertar de las semillas\/ With the rains, the pedregal turns green again: shoots and flowers emerge, marking the awakening of the seeds
Fotograf\u00eda\/Photography: Allison Cervantes Ayuso<\/p><\/div>\n

Observing this cycle allows us to understand that seeds are much more than the beginning of a plant: they are memory, adaptation, and future. They are also an invitation to return to the territory, to walk through it and get to know it. In an increasingly sedentary environment, walking the landscape to discover them becomes a way to reconnect with the natural processes that sustain biodiversity and to recognize that conservation begins with learning how to see.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeds are much more than the beginning of a plant: they are memory, adaptation, and future.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Dahlia coccinea en flor durante la temporada de lluvias en el pedregal del Xitle\/ Dahlia coccinea in bloom during the rainy season in the Xitle pedregal
Fotograf\u00eda\/Photography: Allison Cervantes Ayuso<\/p><\/div>\n

The seeds of the pedregal do not only wait for the rain to germinate; they also wait for observers willing to walk the territory and discover the stories they hold.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Encontrar una semilla es descubrir una de las historias que el paisaje guarda en silencio\/ To find a seed is to discover one of the stories that the landscape keeps in silence
Fotograf\u00eda\/Photography: Allison Cervantes Ayuso<\/p><\/div>\n

Bio of the author:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Allison Cervantes Ayuso is a landscape architect and geographer in training. She works at the Ministry of the Environment, contributing to the management and conservation of Protected Natural Areas and to the recognition of geo-biocultural heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allison Cervantes Ayuso, in The Seeds of the Pedregal: Inhabiting Another Time, invites us to reflect on seeds as a way of reconnecting with the natural processes that sustain biodiversity. Seeds remind us that life never disappears; it remains dormant, waiting for the right moment to begin again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":475,"featured_media":28584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-land-escape-en"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t