Heliocarpus attenuatus

Samo is a common small tree in the Alamos area. Underneath the bark, the branches are slimy. This mucilage was used in the preparation of lime plaster, and as a binder for paint. The combination of the organic ‘samo’ with inorganic lime and pigments, resembles the paint and plaster technology of the ancient Maya, known for durability. The Maya used a tree they called holol. Holol refers to a variety of species, one of which is Heliocarpus donnell.

To prepare the mucilage, the Guarijio soak strips of bark in water. The water is then mixed with sand and lime to make plaster, or with lime/and or pigments to make paint. Many people in Alamos still remember the use of samo.

Samo will be essential to any future effort to restore Alamos’ colonial architecture. Very few authentic paint and plaster surfaces remain. Almost all have been ruined with vinyl paint and plaster containing Portland cement.