La Pochota, Sacred tree in Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico.

La Pochota is a massive tree standing in the central park of Chiapa de Corzo with a trunk diameter exceeding three meters. The tree sheds cotton-like fibers during certain seasons, blanketing the square below.

Chiapa de Corzo was founded around this ceiba in 1528, and Chiapaneca merchants displayed goods in its shade on market days. In the battle of 21 October 1863 the invading army reported seeing a large force of small men dressed in red around the tree, though the town was held by only a few citizens; the survivors of the defeated conservative army asked about this army, and the defenders replied that no such force existed.

The Chiapaneca considered the ceiba sacred, as did other Mesoamerican peoples. Local lore holds that the warrior Sanguiemé was burned in the tree during the Spanish conquest, and that his soul lives in it; people say his ghost weeps here at night. Neighbours also told of a tiny man and woman who emerged from the sleeping tree to fill the Pila.

La Pochota stands in the Parque Ángel Albino Corzo on the Plaza de Armas of Chiapa de Corzo's historic centre, a short walk from the Pila fountain and the portales. The paved square around it is level and open, so the tree can be reached and circled on foot. Its wide crown shades the surrounding paving through the hottest hours of the day.

The government officially granted this tree the status of Chiapas's first Historical and Notable Tree in 1993. A special association was created to ensure its protection and ongoing care.