Thursday, May 29, 2014
Pau Brasil
I dare say that you've never heard of pau-brasil (Caesalpinia echinata) unless, by chance, you play the violin, the viola, the cello or the bass. As reported in a recent post, the tree (from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest) became the major source of red dye-wood for the world for more than 300 years. What I didn't say was that toward the end of this economic rage, in the early 1800s, a master bowmaker in France, Francois Xavier Tourte, discovered that the wood was the best material he'd ever used for fabricating bows. A story I read in a Smithsonian Institution magazine from a few years ago reported that Tourte was an avid fisherman and it was on one of his weekend outings near Paris that he discovered a piece of pau-brasil, from which he made the bow. There's nothing strange about the fact that he came by a piece of wood from South America on the outskirts of Paris. The Smithsonian Institution article states that there was a stockpile of pau-brasil logs in Paris at that time of more than 200 acres! Regardless, pau-brasil became the standard for bows and continues to be to this day. The European bow-makers must have really stocked up on the wood because the tree has been on the verge of extinction for many decades. In recent years the bow-makers have formed an association among themselves to contract with groups in the State of Bahia to plant pau-brasil trees with the objective of renewing their supply. I understand that the tree must be at least 35 years old in order to provide the high quality heartwood needed to make bows.
The attached image is a pau-brasil wood sample from my collection at Bosque Santa Lucia. The tree isn't from the Amazon but I came by a few planks of the wood at a German sawmill some years ago. They were defective pieces leftover from precut lumber for exportation and they would've been burned, if I hadn't picked them up. Out of a half-dozen planks, I only have two samples left. The lumber was kept in a backyard shed for many years, collecting dust and pollution from the street. Once I noticed that the wood was "bleeding" from the rain. It was about this time that I remembered the historical significance of pau-brasil. I wish I'd been more careful about protecting the planks from the elements. The sample has lost much of its color but .... it's a piece of pau-brasil.
The attached image is a pau-brasil wood sample from my collection at Bosque Santa Lucia. The tree isn't from the Amazon but I came by a few planks of the wood at a German sawmill some years ago. They were defective pieces leftover from precut lumber for exportation and they would've been burned, if I hadn't picked them up. Out of a half-dozen planks, I only have two samples left. The lumber was kept in a backyard shed for many years, collecting dust and pollution from the street. Once I noticed that the wood was "bleeding" from the rain. It was about this time that I remembered the historical significance of pau-brasil. I wish I'd been more careful about protecting the planks from the elements. The sample has lost much of its color but .... it's a piece of pau-brasil.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Thursday, May 08, 2014
Cú de vaca
Cú de vaca (cow's anus), which is an entrance to a bee's nest. Unidentified species but I think they are stingless. I was attacked upon taking the photo and my face and head were covered with the little bees. I felt some biting but not stings.
Labels:
Amazon River,
Bosque Santa Lucia,
Forest,
Insects,
Nature photography,
Santarém,
Tapajós River,
Woods
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
Monday, May 05, 2014
Sunday, May 04, 2014
Saturday, May 03, 2014
Friday, May 02, 2014
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