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.

Mimosa, the humble plant

After leaving the woods we walk back to the reception center via the small dirt road passing through the Bosque. The sides of road are covered with many invasive plants, including mimosa pudica, the famed "humble plant". Although native of Brazil, mimosa pudica has found its way into most of tropical America, so many people recognize it. The temptation of touching it is too great for most visitors and guides. At the slightest touch, the leaves instantly fold up like magic. They return to an open position a few minutes later but close down naturally at night. What's funny and frustrating is confuse other similar looking plants for this one. Absolutely nothing happens when you touch them!

Inajá, in memoriam

"The price we pay for progress" is a rather trite expression but now it has more meaning. The palm you see in the image was chained-sawed down today because it stood in the way of progress. As I reported in an earlier blog, our community of Poço Branco and some other villages on the road have been included in the federal government's Rural Electrification program. Believe me, this is a time of joy and jubilation for the people of this region. I think in particular of a local teacher, Dona Inêz, who has carried the banner of "lights for the rural people of Brazil" for as long as I can remember. Since 1981, to be exact. She has sat on the doorsteps of every mayor and governor in office almost every week since I've known her. The years have past and she's now retired - from teaching - but not from her relentless pursuit of electricity. Thanks to President Lula and his bold "lights for every rural home" program, she'll cross the finish line in the next few weeks. I'm rather excited about getting electricity myself because it'll provide some options we've never had before, like an electric fan and even a well for pumping water. Face it, I'm tired of hauling water to keep my plants alive over the long dry summers. At the same time, I accept the fact that some sacrifices have to be made. Trees and electric power lines don't get a long very well. The CELPA regulation for putting up a power line is that there be 10 meters of clearing in order to prevent trees from falling over on it. My poor inajá palm (Attalea maripa) was right at the edge of road and would have been almost under the future power line. I took this picture only two days ago. I must have had a premonition that its days were numbered. This morning I heard the roar of a chainsaw close to the reception center and I figured that some clearing was about to take place. My neighbor's hired hand was kind enough to come over to tell me what was happening. I was pleased to learn that my mahogany trees were to be spared, mainly because they were too small to pose a threat to progress. As they get older I can prune them back so they won't get chainsawed too. On the way out of the Bosque I was saddened to see my inaja palm flat on the ground.

Miconia

I always tell visitors at the Bosque that this may be the best plant to demonstrate biodiversity. Miconia is the genus and there are more than one-thousand species found throughout the tropics! Evidently some countries in Central America are trying to eradicate the plant because it's considered an uncontrollable weed. The local name for it here at the Bosque is tinteiro. Only two varieties have been classified, tinteiro branco and tinteiro vermelho. Personally, I like having lots of these trees around because they are quite beautiful and they produce fruit the birds like. I took this picture today but I couldn't find any with fruit. Another opportunity.

Imbaúba (Cecropia) II

Once I needed to cut down a cecropia tree in order to widen the entrance to the Bosque for buses. I discovered the hard way that cecropia trees harbor mean biting ants - and a lot of them. The trees are, as a matter of fact, classified as an "ant plants" because of the symbiotic relationship between them and ants. A rental contract provides housing for the ants inside the hollow trunks of the tree and the latter gets protection from countless security guards. Nobody wants to mess with the cecropia tree, unless you are a sloth. I can't prove it but everyone tells me that the leaves of the tree are the favorite food for this slow moving animal. When I cut the tree that day, I was fast to get away from it because the ants were biting me all over. As for the sloth, it could care less because it's protected by a very thick coat of hair.

Imbaúba (Cecropia)

It's amazing what pops up out of the ground once the rains get underway. In just a few square meters there may be dozens of different kinds of trees and plants looking for their place on this earth. They are all so new, so fresh, and so green - they bring new life to our eyes and souls. The young tree in the middle of the image is imbaúba from the genus Cecropia. The common name in the English language is also cecropia, or the trumpet-tree. There are many, many different species and a good representation of them are to be found in both primary and secondary forests, and even more on the Amazon floodplain. The cecropia is classified as a pioneer tree because it is one of the first trees to take up residency in an area that has been disturbed, either by nature or by man. Over time they make way for longer-living trees and plants.

Colors of Ingá

A visiting botanist at the Bosque once told me that plants have a way of tricking their predators. One way of deceiving an insect looking for a juicy tender meal of new leaves is to camouflage them in different colors. Grasshoppers, ants and other consumers of forest salads are evidently tuned into green, not other colors. The ingá plant in the image is a good example of trickery. In the background you can see its older mature leaves, all green. The new leaves in the foreground are brightly colored, thus giving them a chance of survival until they toughen up.

Another way some plants increase their chances of survival is to form contracts with potential enemies. What could be better than a delicious new leaf? Honey, of course. Enter extra-floral nectaries. In the case of the ingá plant, they are located at the conjunction of leaves. The nectar attract certain ants, which get a good easy meal and in return, they protect the plant from the leaf-eaters. A symbiotic relationship, the biologists call it.

There are many different species of ingá. The genus is also called Inga, without the accent mark.

Ginger

Swedish friend and colleague, Haken Franden, asked me to identify the plant I used in the botanical listing for native plants. It's ginger from the genus Costus but I don't know the species yet. I'm told that this type of ginger used be be in the genus Zingiber, just in case you're using older reference literature. The only local name I know is João Mole, which translates into "Soft Johnnie", or "Soft John". Hum, wonder what that means? The root (rhizome) of ginger is used around the world as a spice and medicine. To my knowledge, this one isn't a true ginger used for our popular ginger ale or ginger cookies. On my tour of the Bosque trails, I point out the yellow vertical slits on the bracts. They are what the botanists call "extra-floral nectaries". They produce small quantities of sweet nectar, which is consumed by certain species of ants. In return for the meal, they protect the ginger plant from leaf-cutting insects.

Tarantula spider II

As reported in the previous blog entry, some tarantula spiders build their nests underground. The image to the left shows the entrance to a nest with its elaborate placement of leaves to camouflage the hole from wandering prey. Sometimes web material is also woven around the entrance hole. The spider hunts from a very comfortable position of half in, half out. We see many of these holes on the trails of the Bosque and quite often we get a fast glimpse of the tarantula as it ducks out of sight. If we have time to wait it out, we can see the spider come back to it's hunting position. I have never dug up a spider from this kind of nest, but I have uncovered many of them while digging around old logs and buried pieces of lumber. It's amazing how large they can get. I have also seen many of them with very large egg sacks.

Tarantula spider

Some tarantula spiders live up high in the rooftops of houses and in trees. Others live underground. The attached image is of an immature one that was living under the roof tiles of the front porch at the reception center of the Bosque. Needless to say, it got a lot of attention and everyone got pictures. I think I'm accurate in saying that all rural homes have tarantulas up in the ceilings, some the seize of a dinner plates. They aren't aggressive to mankind, unless put in an awkward situation. The most common confrontation with other members of the household is at night when they involuntarily fall into someone's hammock or bed. I remember this happened to a friend, who was sleeping in the old roundhouse at the Bosque. Luckily, he woke up with the fall of the tarantula and was able to get it out of his hammock right away. My photographer friend, Alfonso, wasn't so lucky. I'm not sure how our hairy friend got into the bed but Alfonso rolled over on it in his sleep and got a nasty bit, plus jabs from all those poisonous hairs. The unromantic interlude between the two required several visits to a doctor. I wanted to ask Alfonso if he reacted to the episode by doing the tarantella dance, but didn't have the courage.

Powder-puff (Calliandra)

In this world of biodiversity, one of the little pleasures in life is discovering the name of a tree or plant. In an earlier post I made mention of an orchid, Psygmorchis pusilla, that had made its home on a plant called pavão, which in the Portuguese language means "peacock". Claúdio Serique, who classified the orchid in short order, couldn't come up with a name for host plant. I was confused because I saw more of these flowering shrubs in the wild along the highway but the leaves were different. Today I did some browsing on the internet to discover that the genus of the plant is Calliandra and that there are more than 200 different species. The common name in English is powder-puff and there are a lot of different colors and formats. The one in the image may be C. surinamensis, but I' not sure. The original cutting of this plant was given to me by Hélcio Amaral, friend and local historian.

Termites III

Termites never eat a live tree but they will obviously eat its dead branches, or even dead bark, as in the case of the Brazil nut tree. My personal observation is that most of our trees in the Amazon have little bark, thus it's not very common to see termite infestation of the side of trees. The Brazil nut is certainly an exception to the rule. I'm sure that these termites are of a different species than the ones shown in the previous two entries. The nesting material shown in the image seems to be made up of a heavy clay, as opposed to the light decomposed leaves and fecal materials of the others. And it becomes extremely hard when dried out. It takes a smart blow of a machete to break into the nest. It's also interesting to note that the termite infestations are to be found only on one side of the Brazil nut tree, the protected side. The easterly trade winds are prevalent in this region, thus the termites (smart little devils) make their home on the western side of the tree.

Termites II

Termites are quite pleased to decompose anything that is made of wood, regardless of where it's found. It could be a dead branch up in a tree, it could be litter on the forest floor, or even your house, if you give them a chance. The mounds in the image are the result of termites invading some tree trunks left over from clearing of an area close to the Bosque reception center. The little devils have been eating away at the wood for the last five years and only two weeks ago did one of the mounds fall over. The old tree trunk is still standing, so I assume the nest became too heavy for the support, or water may have infiltrated the nest. They can become quite heavy in this case and it's common for them to fall. Termite nests are made up of a paste of decomposed wood, leaves and fecal material and tend to be waterproof. Other critters can take advantage of this ready-made home, for example, snakes, spiders and even birds. There was a black-tailed trogan nesting inside the far mound at the time this picture was taken. There are times when I break open a small patch of the nest to show visitors the heavy population of termites. The next day I can be assured that the area will be completely repaired ... and life goes on.

Termites

At the beginning of a tour at the Bosque someone inevitably asks about the big black termite nests found up in most trees. "No, the termites aren't eating the trees; they're getting away from their predators." But then they pay the price of being so far from the source of their food, which is the litter on the ground. In order to stay hidden from birds and other predators, they must construct tunnels from the nests right down to the ground. This can be a considerable distance and I'm sure represents a lot of work and materials. The nesting material is much like waterproof cardboard, made up of decomposed leaves and feces. The nest you see in the attached image is a bit exaggerated because it is larger than most and it is placed in a rather small tree, not far off the ground. Nevertheless, it has been there for at least five years and shows no sign of falling anytime soon. Sightseeing couldn't be better. It's only 4-5 meters from the entrance to the Bosque.

Amapá-doce

Bosque Santa Lúcia isn't a botanical garden but I like treat it as if it were one. Can you imagine your guide at the Botanical Gardens of Rio de Janeiro whacking away at the trees with a machete as he shows you around the place? But in the forest environment it is quite common for everyone to remove pieces of bark for the purpose of identifying trees and at times gashing the tree for latex and resins. I know some woodsmen who whack away at trees just for the hell of it. The tree in the image is amapá-doce, which immediately bleeds a latex the consistency of milk when slashed with a knife. Tour guides know the value of showing their clients things like this, a show-and-tell approach, which is always better than the bla bla bla show. I suppose this is valid in a forest the size of the Tapajós National Forest, where I took the picture. Sr. Francisco, our guide, was at the other end of the knife and he knows what pleases visitors. Nevertheless, I ask the woodsmen and English speaking guides coming to the Bosque not to cut the water-vines, amapá-doce trees, palms and other flora because our area is relatively small, much like an over-seized botanical garden. Not only does it look bad for the next visitors but exaggerated cuts are harmful for the trees. By the way, the latex of amapá-doce (Brosimum perinarioides) is considered to be both nutritional and medicinal by the scientific community conducting research in this area. Some local people report that they mix the "milk" with farinha (meal of the manioc root) and sugar for treatment of respiratory ailments, like tuberculosis. As one might suspect, the Territory of Amapá, later to become the State of Amapá, got its name from the tree.

BR-163

There are two routes to get to Bosque Santa Lúcia, one via the Curuá-una Highway (a state highway) and the other via the federal highway, BR-163, better known as the Santarém-Cuiabá Highway. The distance is about the same from Santarém, around 18 kilometers, but I prefer to use BR-163. It's paved out the first 100 kilometers and the wear and tear on my vehicle is much less. Leaving the tropical savanna of Santarém, elevation around 36 meters, we climb the hill to the planalto, which is 158 meters above sea level. Just at the top of the hill is Piquiátuba, home of the 8th BEC, the Army Corps of Engineers. At the entrance to the military headquarters is the highway sign you see in the image. I've always made it a point to make a stop next to the sign so that our visitors can take pictures and ponder on the great distances from the Amazon to other points in Brazil.

Aloe vera (Babosa)

Aloe is the genus and vera the species. This is another one of these medicinal plants found everywhere here but not native of Brazil. As I best remember, it's originally from Africa. In Portuguese, it's better known as "babosa", which refers to slobber or foam at the mouth. I call it a "live-tube-of-medicine" because when a cut leaf is squeezed, the gel or semi-liquid material comes out just like from the opening of a metal or plastic tube. It has to be the freshest tube of medicine on the market! The plant is used for many different ailments but it is better known for treatment of inflammations and burns, including sunburn. Whenever I look at the plant, I always remember a Swedish guide, Hakan Franden (spelled without all the Swedish diacritical marks), who brings 6-8 Tema groups to Santarem and the Bosque every year. As he finishes up his rather methodical tour of the Bosque, he asks for a knife to cut off one of the big fat leaves. On the bus, he removes all his jungle clothes. Then he proceeds to treat his legs and feet with the gel and passes the "tube" on to his clients. I'm willing to bet that he never has problems with mosquito and chigger bites!

Lemon grass

Visitors to Bosque Santa Lucia normally don't pay much attention to a big clump of grass just a few meters from the reception center but they are always pleasantly surprised when I break off a blade of the plant for them to smell. Without fail, everyone recognizes the smell as that of lemon grass. Only the nomenclature changes according to the nationality of the visitor. The locals refer to it as "capim santo", which translates into "saint's grass". The next most common name is "lemon grass". Then comes "citronella grass". Citronella is also the distilled oil of the plant and makes for an excellent insect repellent. There are several species of lemon grass. This one was given to me by Frei Leao and Eunice Sena, friends who enjoy life on the edge of the Tapajos River.

Camilo Vianna

I like to refer to SOPREN (Sociedade de Preservação dos Recursos Naturais e Culturais da Amazônia) as an example of Brazilians in action. SOPREN was founded in 1968 under the leadership of Camilo Vianna, professor of medicine and vice-president of the Federal University of Pará in Belém. Camilo Vianna is the Johnny Appleseed of the Amazon, but his mission is much more than that of planting trees. It is to combat hunger. “There is no need in talking about preservation of the Amazon if the population is hungry. Hunger does not listen to reasoning. It creates violence, to both mankind and the environment,” proclaims Vianna in his great number of lectures and speeches made throughout Brazil and abroad. “We can't stop to cry over what we've done wrong in the past,” he continues. “We have to jump in right now to battle hunger. Hunger is the key issue to the question of saving the environment.” While SOPREN has been active on many fronts, Vianna takes special pleasure in planting trees. Through a network of nurseries and organizational affiliates, SOPREN has distributed an untold number of seedlings, and in the process, has tucked in an environmental-education program that is changing the mentality of school children and adults alike. Camilo Vianna practices what he preaches. He does not miss an opportunity to spread his gospel, the propagation of trees. When people see Camilo Vianna, they think of trees. They may remember him also as an outstanding professor of medicine, but they think trees.

We had the pleasure of receiving Camilo Vianna out at Bosque Santa Lúcia in the 1980s, as I best remember it. He did not have a lot of time because I had kidnapped him from a medical conference at the Tropical Hotel (now Amazon Park Hotel), but we did walk the main trail of the Bosque. I will never forget his comment to my wife later in the day. “O Bosque tem muitas preciosidades”, he said. I took it to mean that the Bosque has a lot of precious trees. On another occasion, Áurea and I invited him out to dinner and he talked about… hunger and trees. As I opened my billfold to pay the waiter, a gentleman from a neighboring table (José Fernando dos Santos, a retired auditor from the Receita Federal, now deceased) quickly jumped up, grabbed the bill from my hand and made a short, but eloquent speech honoring the ecological attributes of Dr. Vianna. In the middle of this unexpected event, our honored guest got up from the table and disappeared. He was back a few minutes later with two big plastic bags of pitomas (Toulicia spp.), a wild fruit from this region. During the course of the speech in his honor he had seen the vendor passing by the restaurant and he left to get the fruit. Later he told me that he had an excellent germination rate from the seeds, which he planted at one of SOPREN’s nurseries outside of Belém.

Graphic: Arthur Daniel Alexander

Comigo ninguém pode

Dieffenbachia picta is a potted plant that you will undoubtedly find in every home and store in Santarém. They're traditionally placed at the entrance to the premise, thereby playing the role of warden to bad spirits, the evil eye and negative energies. At the Bosque, we have a few of these plants in vases and others in the ground. They do well in either situation. The name, comigo ninguem pode, means "with me, nobody can". I'm not sure what that refers to but I do know that the plant is poisonous. If ingested, it'll paralyze the throat muscles and it's capable of killing cats, dogs and children. It seems to be a rather strange plant to have around the household under these circumstances but here it is right next to the front door.
Image: Jeremy Campbell

Tatajuba

I'm always happy to see tatajuba (Bagassa guianensis) fruits falling on the forest trails because it means we'll be seeing more of the big blue morpho butterflies. The rotting fruit is one of their favorite foods. Add an element of sun and you'll see a show. The seeds of the tatajuba fruit are quite small, as you can see to the right of the screen, right next to the third fruit. I'll post images of the tree and the wood later. There are some ship builders in Europe today who are substituting Asian teak with Brazilian tatajuba.

Timbó

Sebastião dos Santos used to work with me on a regular basis at Bosque Santa Lúcia but he is now captain of a riverboat owned by Santarém Tur here in Santarém. Nevertheless, he is quite aware of my interests in palms and plants in general, so I'm never surprised when he shows up with an assortment of seeds and plants. In November of 2005, he brought me the timbó plant shown in the image. It was only a cutting from a vine at that time. It eventually leafed out and grew into the beautiful thing you see. Only last week I placed it in the ground next to a very high tree stump, where hopefully it will grow into its normal vine form. The chances are that readers of this blog have seen timbó in documentaries made in the Amazon. The scenario is one of Indians beating the heck out of backwaters of a river or a creek with smashed vines or the roots of the same. Fifteen or twenty minutes later dying fish appear on the surface of the water. Yep, that vine was timbó and it is quite capable of killing more than fish. Sebastião told me that when he arrived from upriver Tapajós, he left the cutting at his aunt's home, planning on picking it up another day. Then he discovered that his aunt's ducks were dying of some unknown cause. I'm not sure his aunt made the association between the timbó and the dying ducks but Sebastião was quick to get the plant out of her yard.

I'm still looking for the scientific name for timbó. Henry Bates in his classic, The Naturalist on the River Amazon, described the use of timbó in the Indian villages he visited on the Tapajós River in 1852. The scientific name he used was Paullinia pinnata. More interesting than the Latin name of the plant is the fact that Sebastião took the cutting from one of the same areas visited by Bates back then. I'm sure he never heard of Henry Bates but he sure knew of timbó.

Another Psychotria

I'm not sure if the P. viridis, described as chacrona in an earlier post, can be found at Bosque Santa Lucia. I do know that we have other species of Psychotria, as the one depicted in the image. They are quite prominent during the rainy season but disappear during the dry season of the year. The common name in Portuguese is "mata-gado", which translates into "kill-the-cattle". Evidently, the leaves are quite poisonous and ranchers make it a point to eradicate the plant from their pasture lands.

Mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) vine

I have no personal experience in concocting or drinking the tea described on the previous post for chacrona (I have seen the spelling as "chacruna") but I understand that the brew, which some people refer to as ayahuaska, is a combination of the chacrona leaves, plus the Banisteriopsis caapi vine. The common name of the vine is mariri. I guess either one separately produces hallucinogenic effects but the traditional ayahuaska drink calls for both plants. The Banisteriopsis vines in the attached image were given to me by Pierre, my Swiss friend, the source of the chacrona plant described earlier in this blog. There were several cuttings, all of which have all taken root. In the next few days I'll be putting them in the ground close to trees, where they can climb and grow to be big vines.

Chacrona

Chacrona, of the genus Psychotria, is an hallucinogenic plant traditionally used by some of the indigenous populations for making ceremonial tea. In recent times it has also been adopted by non-Indian religious groups, which also use the plant for ceremonial tea. I understand that chacrona is classified as a hard-drug by Brazilian law but an exception to the rule is made for these specified religious groups. In this region we have two of these groups, one in Alter do Chao and another here in Santarem, called UDV. My Swiss friend, Pierre Schwartz, gave me this plant three years ago when it no more than five inches high. Although it requires a lot of water during the dry season, it seems to be doing well in this semi-shaded spot. I'm not totally certain but I think this plant is Psychotria viridis.

Arruda (Rue)

Arruda, Ruta graveolens, is such a common plant around here, I really thought it was from the Amazon. Recently I discovered that it's originally from Europe and that the use of it can be traced backed to biblical days. It packs a lot of history as a medicine, an herb, protection against the evil eye, bad luck and all the maladies ever encountered by mankind. Jeremy Campbell, anthropologist and researcher, tells me that has has noticed rue among the scents of incense available in the United States. My wife, Áurea, reports that a tea is made of the plant here in Santarém for abortion purposes. Whenever I have more time, I'll do some research to try to discover how it got to Brazil. My guess is that it came with the African slaves, but I don't know for sure. At Bosque Santa Lúcia I only have one arruda plant, the one pictured in the image. I remember very well that I bought it from friends who plant and sell medicinal plants in the Conquista neighborhood of Santarém, just off the road on the way to the airport. I always enjoy the very pronounced, unique smell of arruda. I can't compare it to anything. Maybe just a faint resemblance of dried sagebrush of the western United States.

Bauhinia, the vine

An interesting form of Bauhinia guianensis is the vine it forms as it grows into maturity. The local name for the vine is escada-de-jabuti, which translates into "tortoise's ladder", I guess referring to the step-like configurations of the vine. From observation of the younger plants, like the one posted previously, I would guess that it takes many years to reach the size of the one in the attached image. There are some even much larger! I'm told that a tea made from the vine is an excellent medicine for diarrhea. It took me a long time to associate the younger plant with the older vine, since the latter shows no vestiges of the leaves.

Bauhinia

The common name of this plant is pata do boi (bull's foot) or pata da vaca (cow's foot). The genus is Bauhinia and I'm almost sure that the species in the image is guianensis. They are quite plentiful in the region and there are several different varieties to be seen at the Bosque, some with leaves the size of my thumbnail and others the seize of my hand. It is a medicinal plant, used throughout Brazil for treatment of diabetes and high cholesterol. I'm not sure if one species is considered to be better than another for this purpose. I enjoy chewing on the leaves of the one with the very small leaves.

Heliconia

The heliconias always attract a lot of attention among visitors at the Bosque, especially the H. rostrata, shown in the attached image. They are at their best during the rainy season, which is this time of the year. At the peak of the dry season, around November, I haul a lot of water just to keep the plants alive. There are some other varieties of heliconias to be found in the forest but not in large numbers. On the other hand, they pop up like weeds in the cleared areas, for example, around the entrance to the Bosque.

Wild passion fruit, inside

Here's another image of that P. glandulosa with a better view of the leaves and the fruit cut open. The inside looks much like the commercial variety of passion fruit and tastes almost the same. The wild passion fruits are used by some people for medicinal and exotic purposes but they are much smaller than P. edulis and evidently not available in large quantities. Many farmers grow P. edulis as a cash crop here in the Amazon, given that the Brazilians adore passion fruit juice and sweets flavored with the fruit. The most common way of preparing these delicious drinks and foods is to scoop out the contents, pulp and seeds, and then run the material through a blender. Add water and sugar and there you have the juice. Aside from a great drink or dessert, the consumer gets a free sedative for that afternoon nap.

More passion fruit

The subject of Passifloraceae seems to be of interest to some readers of this blog, so I'll take advantage of this situation to place some more images I have on my computer here at home. At the same time I make it clear that I'm not a professional on the topic, only an interested person wanting to learn more from the experts. Most visitors to Bosque Santa Lucia are quite happy to get a picture of a passion fruit flower without knowing any botanical details of genus or species. Only recently have I discovered that there are several varieties wild passion fruit at the Bosque, some of which have no similarity to the ones posted on this blog. Maybe with the help of my expert readers, I'll learn more. The attached image is a wild passion fruit I photographed last year. I'm almost sure that it is the same species as the bright red flower I posted in December, 2006. It has been identified as P. glandulosa.

Another passion fruit

Last week I had a message from a person in England, who had been at the Bosque recently on one of the cruise ship tours. He had spotted a passion fruit flower from a distance and wanted to know if I could tell him more about what species it might be. Immediately I thought of the brilliant red flower posted on this blog in weeks past. After seeing the same image, he emphatically stated that what he saw was different. Hum, just to show you, things can get to be complicated when looking a minute botanical differences between plants. Maybe that's what makes for biodiversity. Since exchanging notes with this person, who is an expert on Passiflora, I have kept my eyes open for other species. On the very same day that I discovered the gurania flower, posted below, I spotted these Passiflora flowers almost on the ground. Some buds are, indeed, on the ground, maybe knocked off by an animal, or whatever. It appears to me, as a novice, that this passion fruit plant is different than the one described before. The image isn't the best in the world because it was a cloudy, rainy day and the plant was located well off the trail in a rather inaccessible spot. My impression was that the flower was much redder than the attached image shows. More photographs are on my agenda on a sunnier day. I don't think the plant is going to disappear anytime soon. The vine from which the flowers came must be at least 2 inches thick! It's been there for awhile and I'm sure that I'll be seeing red again. In the meanwhile, I'm sending the image to the Passiflora specialist for his comments.

Gurania

Finding a gurania in bloom in a world of green is about as exciting as running into a flashy passion fruit flower. I discovered this one only two days ago close to the old roundhouse, which was destroyed a few years ago by a falling rubber tree. The plant is a vine belonging to the cucumber family, Cucurbitaceae. There are different species but the ones I've seen seem to be the same. In reality, I've never seen many of them, maybe an average of two or three a year. This flower was only off the ground 12 inches or so but I've seen them high up in the trees. An anonymous reader of the blog remarked that this may be G. eriantha.

Joe Jackson

The Joe Jackson, who visited my Bosque Santa Lúcia isn't to be confused with the Joe Jackson, the famous musician and singer. This Joe Jackson is just as famous, but for his writing ability. To quote his website, "Five-time Pulitzer nominee Joe Jackson is the author of four works of nonfiction and a novel. His nonfiction includes: Leavenworth Train, a finalist for the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime; Dead Run: The Shocking Story of Dennis Stockton and Life on Death Row in America, with co-author William F. Burke and an introduction by William Styron; A Furnace Afloat: The Wreck of the Hornet and the Harrowing 4,300-mile of its Survivors; and A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen, which was released by Viking in October 2005. A first novel, How I Left the Great State of Tennessee and Went on to Better Things, was released in March 2004." Joe's visit to Santarém in October, 2005 was not to market his many publications, but to research historical data for a new book he's writing on Henry Wickham, the Englishman, who "smuggled" the 70,000 rubber tree seeds out of the Amazon. The title of the book, as I understand it, will be The Thief at the End of World. I met Joe through Claúdio and Gil Serique at the Cultura Inglêsa school of English here in Santarém. They invited me to join them for a get together of local authorities, journalists and other people they felt might serve as contacts for the writer. My role was that of making our Bosque Santa Lúcia available for a visit, if he so wished. Indeed, he accepted the invitation and we were off to the Bosque early the next morning. Without saying, I stopped at the top of the hill on the way (at Piquiatuba) to show him where Henry Wickham lived when he first came to live in Santarém. We spent the morning walking the trails of the Bosque, where I introduced him to most of our 200 rubber trees. He must have enjoyed the visit because he wanted to return before leaving Santarém. Unfortunately, his time played out by the time he and Gil got back from Fordlândia, upriver.

Rudolf Schuster

In an earlier post, I wrote about Sam Johnson's visit to the Amazon. Sam was retracing the footsteps of his father (founder of the Johnson Wax Company), who flew down in his own plane in 1935. Another famous person revisiting his father's exploits in Brazil was Rudolf Schuster, whose father had come here in 1927, to produce the first documentary film made in Slovakia. Rudolf made several visits to Brazil over the years as a writer and film maker. He wrote several books on his travels, one of which he gave me when he visited Bosque Santa Lúcia on August 14, 2001. The book, which I still have, is Selva Brasileira - Expedição Schuster II, published in 1991. The attached image is taken from the volume. I knew that an important VIP was visiting the Bosque that day because the federal police had called me to their headquarters to work out an itinerary for Schuster, then president of Slovakia. He was traveling with his wife, son and daughter, two consuls, two security guards from his own country, plus Brazilian federal police officers. I think his original plan had been to visit Belterra that day but someone had tipped him off about the Bosque, knowing that he was more interested in flora and fauna of the Amazon. Indeed that was the case. He and his escorts were loaded with all kinds of cameras and he rarely ever stopped using them. As I remember it, he spend nearly three hours with me on the trails of the forest. I suspect that some of the film footage has been included in his follow up books and documentaries on the Amazon. When he published Selva Brasileira in 1991, he had already published 15 books, plus an untold number of film and radio documentaries.

Alice Stein

Other than my immediate family, no other person has contributed so greatly to Bosque Santa Lúcia as Alice Stein, journalist, photographer and editor from Buffalo, New York. Alice and her husband, Robert Stein (now retired professor of biology at New York State University), joined me for a three-day riverboat tour in the Santarém region in the late 1980s, or early 90s. So long ago, as a matter of fact, I can't remember the year. After picking them up at the airport we went directly to our leased riverboat, B/M Lajana, waiting for us in front of the city. I'll never forget their expression of surprise when they discovered that it was a private tour just for them. The trip must have whetted their appetite for the Amazon because the next year they were back, this time for a tour of 7 days. So it went over the next 3-4 years, every trip becoming more of an expedition. Regular crew members on these outings were Captain Domingos and Sebastião Santos (Sabá), who later became Alice's right hand man at Bosque. Eventually, we moved our base of operation to the Bosque, mainly because we had explored everything on the regional river system. There was also the question of increasing fuel costs and boat rentals, which have made private tours rather expensive. Although Robert was unable to join us very often at the Bosque, Alice continued to return for several years in a row. She always stayed with Raimundo and Filha Teixeira at their modest abode across the road from the Bosque land. Sleeping was in a hammock, the same that she had always used on the riverboat. Her room was so small, she could easily reach out from the hammock for any object in the room. Her electric blanket was the family cat, which never missed the opportunity for companionship. Electricity was unheard of in this village, so she sacked out early, as we say, with the chickens. Likewise, she and Sabá were up early with the hungry chickens and the family parrots. After a meager breakfast they were off to explore the forest, where the primary objective was that of photography. For a woman in her 70s, there was nothing too difficult to photograph, even if it meant crawling like a snake through the brush. Over several visits, Alice amassed a fantastic collection of slides of flora and fauna, including an untold variety of butterflies. Several collections were donated to ICBS (Instituto Cultural Boanerges Sena) here in Santarém. Cristovam Sena has transferred most of them to digitalized images, which are available to researchers and the public in general. Alice also provided a grant to ICBS for the publication of a booklet entitled Bosque Santa Lúcia. Between visits to Santarém, Alice is as busy as a bee conducting environmental education lectures and slide shows on the Amazon to private and public schools in the Buffalo school district. Taking advantage of these contacts, she receives boxes of nearly new tennis shoes, which are donated to the kids at the Pastoral do Menor program here. There have also been some right-out money donations from the school kids in New York to help build a new school at Poço Branco, the village next to Bosque Santa Lúcia. Even though age and difficult traveling conditions have prevented Alice Stein from returning to Santarém over the last three years, she continues to support the cause of a surviving Amazon. Let's hear it for a friend, Alice Stein.

Lots for sale

Over the years I've had nightmares thinking about the possibility of the farm lands around Bosque Santa Lúcia being subdivided into residential lots. Think about it! A small forest reserve of 270 acres surrounded by spreading suburbia. A few days ago I nearly had a heart attack when I spotted this sign marking the outer limits of a subdivision called Planalto. The land is right across the road (really more of a trail) separating the Bosque from a large piece of land that goes all the way back to the federal highway, BR-163, three kilometers away. When we started the Bosque back in 1981, all of this land was occupied by small subsistence farmers eking out a living in an area without any amenities, not even a passable road during the rainy season. The owners of the two homesteads annexing the Bosque were anxious to sell their properties to me for next to nothing. Both ended up moving into the city and I think they would have accepted any offer in order to sell their places. Eventually the lands were bought up by a local politician, who deforested the lands to plant soybeans and rice. All the local people in the area suspected that he would eventually subdivide the area whenever electricity became available. It is more than coincidental that just as the power line is being built, this sign shows up. The neighbor's relatives deny that a subdivision is being planned. Another neighbor says that the Planalto subdivision is another one that begins south of BR-163 Highway. I'm still very suspicious because I see some stakes placed out in the field! Hum.

Exotics classified at the Bosque

Exotics

ID/Common Name/Genus/Specie/Family

EX 1.0 Abacate/Avocado Persea americana Lauraceae

EX 1.1 Acerola/Pará cherry Malpighia punicifolia Malpighiaceae
EX 1.2 Azeitona/Olive Eugenia jambolano Myrtaceae
EX 1.21 Babosa Aloe barbadensis Liliaceae
EX 1.3 Banana Musa sp. Musaceae
EX 1.4 Café/Coffee/ beirão Coffea sp. Rubiaceae
EX 1.5 Café/Coffee/comum Coffea arabica Rubiaceae

EX 1.6 Carambola/Five-star Averrhoa carambola Oxalidaceae
EX 1.61 Capim Santa Cymbopon sp. Poaceae
EX 1.7 Castanhola/Indian almond Terminalia catapa Combretaceae
EX 1.8 Chuveirinho Russelia equisetiformis
EX 1.9 Corn Plant Draceana massangeana Liliaceae
EX 2.0 Croton Codiaeum variegatum Euphorbiaceae
EX 2.1 Cycad Cycas circinalis Cycadaceae
EX 2.2 Ficus Ficus benjimina Moraceae
EX 2.3 Flamboyant Poinciana regia Caesalpiniaceae

Ex 2.4 Fruta pão/Breadfruit Artocarpus communis Moraceae
EX 2.4 Hibiscus Hibiscus sp. Malvaceae
EX 2.5 Imperial Palm Roystonea oleracea Palmae
EX 2.6 Jaca da Bahia/Jackfruit Artocarpus integrifolia Moraceae
EX 2.7 Jambeiro/Roseapple Eugenia malaccensis Myrtaceae
EX 2.8 Laranja (orange) Citrus aurantium Rutaceae
EX 2.9 Manga/Mango Mangifera indica Anacardiaceae

EX 3.0 Mangosteen Garcinia maangostana Clusiaceae

EX 3.2 Mogno/Mahogany Kaya ivorensis
EX 3.1 Tangerine Citrus nobilis Rutaceae

---

Native plants classified at Bosque

Native Plants

ID/Common Name/Genus/Specie/Family

NP 1.0 Alamanda/Golden trumpet Allamanda cathartica Bignoniaceae
NP 1.1 Algodão/Cotton tree Gossypium spp. Malvaceae
NP 1.2 Ave-do-paraíso Heliconia psittacorum Musaceae
NP 1.21 Baunilha/Vanilla Vanilla sp. Orchidaceae
NP 1.3 Bougainvillea Bougainvillea sp. Nyctaginaceae
NP 1.4 Cana-de-macaco/Ginger Costus sp. Zingiberaceae
NP 1.41 Cipo-imbê Phillodendrum imbe Schott Araceae
NP 1.5 Club moss Selaginella sp. Selaginellaceae

NP 1.6 Dumb cane Dieffenbachia picta Araceae
NP 1.62 Erva de Passarinho Phoradendron sp Loranthaceae
NP 1.63 Escada de jabuti Bauhinia guyanensis Caesalpiniaceae
NP 1.61 Folha grossa Kalanchoe pinnata Grassuleae
NP 1.7 Ginja Eugenia uniflora Mirtáceae
NP 1.8 Guaraná(Medicinal) Paulina cupana Sapindaceae
NP 1.9 Gurania Gurania sp. Cucurbitaceae
NP 2.0 Heliconia Heliconia pssitacorum Musaceae
NP 2.11 Hibiscus Hibicus rosa-sinensis Malvaceae
NP 2.62 Jambu Spilanthes acmella Asteraceae

NP 2.1 Mandioca/Cassava Manihot esculenta Euphorbiaceae
NP 2.2 Mata gado Psychotria sp. Rubiaceae
NP 2.3 Mata pastagem/Cassia Cassia alata Leguminosae
NP 2.4 Milho de cobra/Tajá de cobra Dracontium asperum Araceae
NP 2.5 Monstera Monstera deliciosa Araceae
NP 2.6 N/A Marcgravia sp. Marcgraviaceae
NP 2.61 Oeceoclades Oeceoclades maculata. Orchidaceae
NP 2.62 Orelhão/Skunk cabbage N/A Araceae
NP 2.7 Passion fruit/Maracujá(Medicinal) Passiflora sp. Passifloraceae
NP 2.8 Pata de vaca(Medicinal) Bauhinia sp. Caesalpiniaceae
NP 2.9 Philodendron Syngonium sp. Araceae
NP 3.0 Pião(Medicinal) Jatropha curcas Euphorbiaceae
NP 3.1 Pimenta-de-macaco Piper tuberculatum Piperaceae

NP 3.2 Primaveira/Cardinal climber Ipomoea quamoclit Convolvulus
NP 3.3 Quebra Pedra(Medicinal) Phyllanthus niruri Euphorbiaceae
NP 3.4 Sensitive plant Mimosa pudica Mimosaceae

NP 3.5 Taboca gigante (Armarelo) Bamboo Guadua sp. Gramineae
NP 3.6 Taboca gigante (Verde)/Bamboo Bambusa sp. Gramineae
NP 3.60 Tajá/Caladium Caladium bicolor Araceae

NP 3.61 Tajá/Caladium Caladium sp. Araceae

NP 3.62 Tajá de cobra Dracontium sp. Araceae
NP 3.7 Urucu comum(Medicinal) Bixa orellana Bixaceae

Pavâo

My friend, Claúdio Serique, quickly identified the Psygmorchis orchid, which appeared on an earlier post, but he scratched his head on the name of the host shrub, pavão. The word in Portuguese means "peacock" and it's easy to understand the association. I publish the image of the plant and its flowers in hope that he, or someone else, can give me the correct name. My hunch is that there are few people in this world capable of identifying that orchid but there will probably be many who can recognize what I call "pavão".

Wood samples at Bosque

Wood samples at Bosque Santa Lucia:

Abiurana (Pouteria sp.)
Acapú (Vouacapoua americana)
Acariquara (Minquartia guianensis Aubl.)
Amarelão (Apuleia molaris)
Andiroba (Carpa guianensis)
Angelim da Mata (Hymenolobium petraeum)
Angelim Pedra (Hymenolobium petraeum)
Angelim vermelho (Dinizia excelsa)
Aroeira (Astronium fraxinifolium)
Cambará (Erisma uncinatum)
Castanheira (Bertholetia excelsa)
Cedro Branco (Cedrela fissilis)
Cedro Vermelho (Cedrela sp.)
Cedrorana (Cedrelinga catenaeformis)
Coataquiçaua (Peltogyne spp. )
Coração de Negro (Chamecrista negrensis)
Cuiarana (Terminalia guianensis)
Cumaru (Dipteryx odorata)
Cupiúba (Goupia glabra Aubl.)
Faieira (Roupala Montana)
Fava Amargosa (Vatairea sp.)
Fava Arara Tucupi (Parkia multijuga)
Fava Folha Fina (Piptadenia suaveolews)
Fava Sumaúma (Ceiba pentanda)
Fava Tamboril (Enterolobium maximum)
Fava Tapete (Schizolobium amazonicum)
Freijó (Cordia goeldinana)
Gombeira (Swartzia sp.)
Guariúba (Clarisia racemosa)
Gumbeira (Swartzia recurva Poepp. & Endi)
Ingá (Ingá Alba)
Ipê Roxo (Tabebuia heptaphylla)
Ipê Vermelho (Tabebuia sp)
Itaúba (Mezilaurus itauba)
Itaúba Suribim (Mezilaurus sp)
Jacarandá do Pará (Dalbergia spruciana)
Jacareuba (Calophyllum Brasiliense)
Jarana (Holopyxidium jarans)
Jatobá (Hymenae courbaril)
Jatobá Açu (Hymenaea sp.)
Louro Amarelo (Licaria sp.)
Louro Faia (Euplassea pinnata)
Louro Itaúba (Mezilaurus sinandra)
Louro Preto (Ocotea sp.)
Maçaranduba (Manilkara huberi)
Mandioqueira Áspera (Qualea pararensis)
Marupá (Simarouba amara)
Matá Matá (Eschweilera sp.)
Mógno/Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
Molongo (Ambelania acida)
Muiracatiara (Astronium lecontei)
Muirapiranga (Brosimum paraensis)
Pau Amarelo (Euxylophora paraensis)
Pau Brasil (Caesalpinia echinata)
Pau D´Árco (Tabebuia serratifolia)Pau Santo (Zollernia paraensis Huber)
Piquiá (Caryocar villosum)
Pracuuba da Terra Firme (Trichillia lecointei Ducke)
Quaruba (Vochysis maxima)
Quaruba Verdadeira (Vochysis sp.)
Quaruba-Cedro (Vochysia spp.)
Quarubarana / Cambará) (Erisma uncinatum Warm)
Roxinho / Purpleheart (Peltogyne confertiflora)
Sebastião Arruda (Dalbergia Frutescens)
Sucupira (Bowdichia guianensis)Sucupira Preta (Bowdichia virgilioides)
Tachi Pitomba (Sclerolobium chrysophyllum)
Tatajuba (Bagassa guianensis)
Tauarí (Couratari guianensis)
Tauarí Vermelho (Couratari sp.)
Ubaia (Eugenia p.)Uchirana (Vantanea parvifolia)
Ucuúba de Terra Firme (Virola michelii Hechel)
Virola de Terra Firme (Virola duckei)

Palm species at Bosque

Native palms species at Bosque Santa Lucia

ID/Common Name/Genus/Specie/Family

PAL 01 Açaí Euterpe oleracea Palmae

PAL 1 Babaçu Attalea speciosa Palmae

PAL 1.1 Bacaba Oenocarpus distichus Palmae

PAL 1.2 Carnauba Copernicia prunifera Palmae

PAL 2 Coco da Bahia/Coconut Cocos nucifera Palmae

PAL 3 Inajá Attalea maripa Palmae

PAL 3.1 Jacintara Desmoncus sp. Palmae

PAL 4 Marajá da mata Bactris maraja Palmae

PAL 5 Mucajá Acrocomia aculeata Palmae

PAL 6 Mumbaca Astrocaryum gynacanthum Palmae

PAL 7 Piririma Syagrus pseudococos or cocoides Palmae

PAL 8 Pupunha Bactris gasipaes Palmae

PAL 9 Tucumã açu Astrocaryum aculeatum / A. macrocarpum Huber Palmae
PAL 10 Tucumã piranga Astrocaryum vulgare Palmae

---

Biodiversity of trees at the Bosque

Index

NT= Native trees
PAL= Native palms
NP= Native plants
EX= Exotic trees, plants and palms

Partial listing of flora to be seen on the trails at Bosque Santa Lúcia

Native Trees

I.D/Common Name/Genus/Specie/Family

NT 1.1 Abiu Pouteria caimito Sapotaceae

NT 2 Abiurana cutiti Pouteria macrophylla Sapotaceae
NT 3 Abiurana frutão Pouteria sp. Sapotaceae

NT 4 Abiurana peluda Ecclinusa sp. Sapotaceae
NT 4.1 Abiurana pitomba Sandwithiodoxa egregia Sapotaceae
NT 4.2 Algaroba Prosopis julifora Mimosaceae
NT 5 Amapá doce Brosimum perinarioides Moraceae
NT 5.1 Apuí/Strangler fig Ficus nymphacaefolia Moraceae
NT 5.2 Andiroba(Medicinal) Carapa guianensis Meliaceae
NT 5.3 Angelim Hymenolobium sp. Leguminoseae
NT 6 Arapari Swartzia sp. Caesalpiniaceae

NT 7 Arapari branco Swartzia sp. Caesalpiniaceae
NT 7.1 Araracanga vermelho Aspidosperm centrale Apocynaceae
NT 8 Achicha Sterculia speciosa Sterculiaceae
NT 9.1 Breu preto Protium sp. Burseraceae
NT 10 Breu sucuruba Trattinickia burseraefolia Burseraceae
NT 11 Cacau comum/Cocoa Theobroma cacao Sterculiaceae
NT11.1 Caju/Cashew Anacardium ocidentale Anacardiaceae
NT 12 Cacaui Theobroma speciosum Sterculiaceae
NT 13 Cacaui quadrado Theobroma atrorubens Sterculiaceae
NT 16 Caférana Faramea sp. Rubiaceae
NT 17 Cambiteiro N/A N/A
NT 18 Capitiu Siparuma sp. Monimiaceae
NT 19 Canela de velho Rinorea cf guianensis Violaceae
NT 20 Caqui Diospyros sp. Ebenaceae
NT 21 Caqui folha miuda Diospyros sp. Ebenaceae
NT 22 Caraipe Licania hypolsuca Chrysobalanaceae
NT 23 Castanha do Pará/Brazil nut Bertholetia excelsa Lecythidaceae
NT 25 Cauaçu Coccoloba latifolia Poligonaceae
NT 25.1 Cedro/Brazilian cedar Cedrela odorata Meliaceae
NT 26 Cinzeiro Terminalia sp. Combretaceae

NT 27 Cocão Poecylanthe effusa Fabaceae
NT 28 Copaíba(Medicinal) Copaifera multifuga Caesalpiniaceae
NT 29 Conario Connarus perrottetii Conaraceae
NT 30 Cuieira/Calabash Crescentia cuiete Bignoniaceae
NT 31 Cumaru folha grande Dipteryx odorate Fabaceae
NT 32 Cupuaçú Theobroma grandiflorum Sterculiaceae
NT 33 Envira bobo Rollinia sp. Annonaceae
NT 34 Envira periquiteira Cochlospermum Cochlospermceae
NT 34.1 Envira preta Duguetia sp. Annonaceae
NT 35 Envira preta lisa Guatteria poeppigiana Annonaceae
NT 36 Envira preta fissurada Onychopetalum amazonicum Annonaceae
NT 37 Envira perta capii Duguetia sp. Annonaceae
NT 38 Fava barbatimão Stryphndendron pulcherrimum Mimosaceae
NT 38.1 Fava folhafina Piptadenia suaveoleas Mimosaceae
NT 39 Fava de besouro Cassia xinguensis Caesalpiniaceae
NT 40 Fava de rosca Enterolobium Mimosaceae
NT 41 Farinha seca Lindackeria sp. Flacourtiaceae
NT 40.1 Fava tamboril Enterolobium maximum Mimosaceae
NT 42.1 Freijó peludo Cordia sp. Boraginaceae
NT 42 Freijó branco Cordia sp. Boraginaceae
NT 43 Genipapo/Jenipapo Genipa americana Rubiaceae
NT 44 Geniparana Gustavia augusta Lecythidaceae
NT 45 Goiaba/Guava Psidium guajava Myrtaceae
NT 46 Goiaberana Eugenia sp. Myrtaceae
NT 47 Goiabinha Myrciaria sp. Myrtaceae
NT 48 Gombeira Swartzia Caesalpiniaceae
NT 49 Gombeira folha grande Swartzia Caesalpiniaceae
NT 50 Guaraná Paullina cupana Sapindaceae
NT 51 Imbaúba/Cecropia Cecropia sp. Moraceae
NT 52 Imbaúbarana Pourouma sp. Moraceae
NT 52.1 Ingá folha grande Inga sp. Mimosaceae
NT 53 Ingácipó Inga edulis Mimosaceae
NT 54 Ingá cumaru Inga alba Mimosaceae
NT 55 Ingárana Inga sp. Mimosaceae
NT 55.1 Ingá fruto seco Inga sp. Mimosaceae
NT 56 Ingá xixica Inga heterophylla Mimosaceae
NT 57 Inhare Helicostyles sp. Moraceae
NT 58 Itaúba pimenta Siparuna sp. Monimiaceae
NT 59 Itaubarana Casearia sylvestre Flacourtiaceae
NT 59.2 Jaboticaba Myrciaria jaboticaba Berg. Myrtaceae
NT 59.1 Jacarandá do Pará Dalbergia spruceana Dalbergíreas
NT 61 Janita Brosimum lactescens Moraceae
NT 62 Jarana Holopyxidium jarans Lecythidaceae
NT 63 Jatoa Guarea sp. Meliaceae
NT 64 Jipio Tabernaeontana sp. Apocynaceae
NT 65.1 Jucá(Medicinal) Caesalpinia ferrea Caesalpiniaceae
NT 66 Jutaí açu = Jatobá Hymenaea courbaril Caesalpiniaceae
NT 67 Jutaí pororoca Dialium guianensis Caesalpiniaceae
NT 68 Lacre grande Vismia sp. Hypericaceae
NT 69 Lacre vermelho Vismia sp. Hypericaceae
NT 71 Limãozinho Zanthoxylum rhoifolia Rutaceae

NT 72 Limorana Chomelia anisomeris Rubiaceae
NT 73 Louro amarelo Licaria sp. Lauraceae
NT 73.1 Louro branco Ocotea sp. Lauraceae
NT 74 Louro da beira Ocotea laxifolia Lauraceae
NT 75 Louro preto Ocotea sp. Lauraceae
NT 76 Macuçu Licania latifolia Chrysobalanaceae
NT 77 Mamão comum/Papaya Caryca papaya Carycaceae
NT 78 Mamorana Bombax sp. Bombacaceae
NT 79 Mamorana grande Bombax globosum Bombacaceae
NT 79.1 Mandioqueira grande Qualea sp. Vochysiaceae
NT 81 Muruci Byrsonima crassifolia Malpighiaceae
NT 82 Mão de gato Perebea sp. Moraceae
NT 83 Marirana Cassia spruceana Caesalpiniaceae
NT 83.1 Matá matá branco Eschweilera sp. Lecythidaceae
NT 84 Matá matá rosa Eschweilera rosea Lecythidaceae
NT 85 Membi Cassia sp. Caesalpiniaceae
NT 86 Moracea folha grande Brosimum sp. Moraeace
NT 87 Mororo Bauhinia macrostachva Caesalpiniaceae
NT 88 Mororo grande Bauhinia sp. Caesalpiniaceae
NT 89 Morototó Didymopanax morototoni Araliaceae
NT 89.1 Muira PuamaMedicinal Ptychopetalum olacoides Olacaceae
NT 90 Muiraçacaca(Medicinal) Croton cajucara Euphorbiaceae
NT 91 Muirapucu Laetia sp. Flacourtiaceae
NT 91.1 Muirataua Apuleia molaris Caesalpiniaceae
NT 92 Muiratinga folha lisa Maquira sp. Moraceae
NT 93 Murta Myrcia sp. Myrtaceae

NT 94 Murupita Sapium sp. Euphorbiaceae
NT 95 Mutamba Guazuma ulmifolia Sterculiacea

NT 96 Mututi Pterocarpus sp. Fabaceae
NT 97 Mututi branco Dussia sp. Erythroxylaceae
NT 97.1 Muuba Belucia sp. Melastomataceae

NT 98 Pajurá Couepia bracteosa Chrysobalanaceae
NT 98.1 Papo de mutum Lucunaria sp. Quiinaceae
NT 99 Parapará Jacaranda copaia Bignoniaceae
NT 100 Paricá Schizolobium sp. Caesalpiniaceae

NT 101 Paricá branco Acacia polyphylla Mimosaceae
NT 102 Pau dÁrco buroja Tabebuia sp. Bignoniaceae
NT 102.1 Pau Brasil/Brazilwood Caesalpinia echinata Leguminosas
NT 103 Pau mulato Calycophyllum spruceanum Rubiaceae

NT 104 Pau de remo Chimarrhia sp. Rubiaceae
NT 104.1 Pau rosa/Rosewood Aniba canelillia rosaeodora Lauraceae
NT 105 Pente de macaco Apeiba macropetala Tiliaceae
NT 106 Piquiá Caryocar villosum Caryocaraceae
NT 107 Pitanga Stenocalyx sp. Myrtaceae

NT 108 Pitoma da mata Toulicia sp. Sapindaceae
NT 109 Pitombarana Toulicia sp. Sapindaceae
NT 109.1 Quina(Medicinal) Quassia amara Simaroubaceae
NT 110 Quinarana Geissospermum sericeum Apocynaceae
NT 110.1 Sapucaia Lecythis pisonis Lecythidaceae
NT 111 Seringa comum/rubber Hevea brasiliensis Euphorbiaceae
NT 112 Sucuuba(Medicinal) Himatanthus sucuba Apocynaceae

NT 113 Sumauma/Ceiba Ceiba pentanda Bombacaceae
NT 113.1 Tachi cauaçu Triplaris sp. Polygonaceae
NT 115 Taquarí Mabea caudata Euphorbiaceae
NT 116 Taperebá/Hogplum Spondias lutea Anacardiaceae
NT 117 Tatajuba Bagassa guianensis Moraceae

NT 118 Tatajuba de espinho Chlorophora tindctoria Moraceae
NT 119 Tatapiririca Tapirira guianensis Anacardiaceae
NT 120 Tauari branco Couratari sp. Lecythidaceae
NT 121 Tinteiro branco Miconia sp. Melastomataceae
NT 121.1 Tinteiro vermelho Miconia sp. Melastomataceae
NT 122 Ucuuba Virola sebifera Myristicaceae

NT 123 Umari gordo Paraqueiba paraensis Icacinaceae
NT 124 Urucu comum Bixia orellana Bicaceae
NT 125 Urucurana Sloanea sp. Elaeocarpaceae

NT 126 Urtigão = Cansanção Jatropha urens Euphorbiaceae

NT 126.1 Visgueiro Parkia gigantocarpa Leguminosa
NT 127 Xixua = Chichue Maytensus sp. Celastraceae

---

Bosque walking tour

Bosque Santa Lucia is an excellent choice for seeing biodiversity of Amazonian flora. This tour leaves from your hotel or other points in the city, per arrangement. Duration of the excursion is 3-4 hours. We will pick up the Santarem-Cuiaba Highway on the other side of town and travel up to the plateau at an elevation of 158 meters (518 feet) and then enter a secondary dirt road that will take us to Bosque Santa Lucia. Some slash and burn agriculture and more recent mechanized practices can be observed on this stretch of road.

At Bosque Santa Lucia your guide will choose one of the many trails in the forest for that nature walk (easy walking) you have wanted to take since arriving in the Amazon. More than 400 different species of native trees are found in the forest, some examples of which have been identified for your convenience. Bosque Santa Lucia provides most of the characteristics noted throughout the more distant, inacessible primary forest, that is, widely diversified species of trees and plants making use of nutrient-poor soils. Discover for yourself the secrets of how they manage.