Morning at Mararu, part 17

I wasn't surprised to see rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) seeds on the ground at Paulo and Zilma's place. There are several older trees there and it's that time of year when they are falling. I shouldn't say "falling" because they actually projected from their pods by an explosion up in the tree. There are normally three seeds in a pod, which is the explosion chamber. It's nature's way of spreading the seeds over a larger distance. Santarém, by the way, was the departure point for 70,000 seeds smuggled out of the Amazon by Henry Wickham. All very interesting history, if you have the time to research it.