Paricá

I planted the seed of this tree in a powdered milk can at home in Santarém about 18 years ago and then transferred it to an area close the Bosque Santa Lúcia entrance. The person who did the classification of trees along the trail ways at the Bosque in 1990 lists two paricá tree species, Acacia polyphylla and Schizolobium sp. I believe from some amateur research on my part that this is Schizolobium parahyba var. amazonicum (Huber x Ducke) Barneby. Regardless of scientific jargon, it's a beautiful tree. At 18 years of age, this paricá is already getting to be an old tree. In the role of a pioneer tree, they rarely ever get older than 20-25 years. There are several of these beauties at the Bosque and when the lineated woodpeckers begin to drill into them, I know their days are numbered. I dread the day that my little milk can tree dies because it will fall on the entranceway and several other important trees. I suppose I'll have to have it cut, so as to give it some direction ... and also avoid pieces of it falling on visitors.