Tento seeds

Santarém is a great place to buy arts and crafts, most of which are fabricated from natural resources of the region. Seeds are almost always used in making jewelry of one kind or another, like necklaces and bracelets. The most popular are the tento seeds, which come from trees in the genus Ormosia. There are several different species, each producing a different colored seed. Perhaps the most popular is the tento vermelho shown in the image. I picked these seeds up from the ground at the Bosque just this week. They came from a rather scraggly tree very close to the reception center. I'm not sure if these are newly formed seeds or not because the tree has a way of holding onto the pods and seeds for long periods of time. Two species of Ormosia have been identified at the Bosque but there may be more. About three years ago I came by seeds from Tento Carolina. One seedling survived and it's now reaching a height of approximately 5 meters. I look forward to seeing it produce seed.