Tapajós National Forest - FLONA

LBA - instrumentation for measuring carbon reserves in the Tapajós National Forest, located near Santarém on the Tapajós River.

Tapajós National Forest - FLONA

Tapajós National Forest

Insects 688

Copaíba tree

I don't expect anything less than a silent chuckle from my readers after they see this image. No "porn" meant. This is the real thing, a copaíba tree (Copaifera multiguga) that has been tapped for its oil and then plugged for another day. I took this picture in the Tapajós National Forest a few weeks ago. We have copaíba at Bosque Santa Lúcia, but none that are being tapped.

Tajá, continued

This is another variety of caladium (tajá) that caught my eye at Flona (the Tapajós National Forest) earlier this month. This is our rainy season in this part of the Amazon, which is most favorable for caladiums. They pop up out of the ground like weeds.

Tajá

We have a lot of caladiums (Tajá) at Bosque Santa Lúcia but I discovered a couple of new ones on a recent visit to the Tapajós National Forest. This one was a combination of green with blue-black.

Ingá fruit, continued

From the tree to the table! My friend, Sr. Carmo showing off one of the very elongated ingá fruits at the Tapajós National Forest to one of his Swedish groups.

Ingá fruit

No, those aren't snakes up in this tree. No, they aren't over-seized worms. They're ingá cipó (Inga edulis), one of the most sought after wild fruits of the Amazon. If you walk along the waterfront of Santarem this time of the year, you'll see piles of them for sale. Life wouldn't be right without sucking the pulp off these large seeds inside the overly-exaggerated pods.

Cacao fruit

Ripe cacao fruit, ready for eating. It's the pulp around the seed that we eat, not the seed. Chocolate is made from the seed, after it's dried, toasted and ground into a powder. Pass the sugar, please.

Colors of cacao leaves

Early morning sun lights up cacao (Theobroma cacao) leaves at the Tapajós National Forest.

Aracanga, continued

Here's another look at the aracanga trunk. The outbreaking of red is from a light scrapping of the bark. In reality, it's all that brilliant red. I gather that the wood is used mainly for flooring lumber, and it's red too.

Colors of Aracanga

I took this picture of the aracanga tree (Aspidosperma macrocarpon) a few days ago on a walk into the Tapajós National Forest. The first tipoff that the tree is nearby is when we see a few brilliant red roots surfacing the trail. The attached image is a closeup of the trunk of the tree. The word "aracanga" is indigenous for species of parrots and macaws sporting red colors. Another view coming up.