Timber!

Trees getting pushed over by winds seems to be common fare in this kind of a tropical forest. The soils are extremely poor, thus trees don't develop tap roots. In the lower image you can see that this fallen tree wasn't a mature one, but nevertheless, doesn't show any signs of a vertical root system. Surface feeders are the order of the day because food for the forest is topside. Nobody knows the name of the downed tree. When Cleuson went to clear the trail, he was surprised at how difficult it was to cut. In the top image you can see both heartwood and sapwood. The older the tree gets, the more heartwood present and less sapwood. The larger tree is an older Brazil nut tree, approximately 300 years old, according to some guides.

Coração de Negro, continued

The long-horned beetle took a saw to this rather thick branch of the coração de negro tree. I'm joking because the beetle doesn't actually have a saw-like mandible, as reported. She actually chews through the wood. I assume by going around and around. It sure is a neat cut. I don't think I could do so well, even with a carpenter's saw.

Coração de Negro, continued

A closer look at the flowers on that branch cut by a long-horned beetle.

Coração de Negro, continued

Sometimes more than one flower drops out of the tree. In this case a whole branch fell at once, the work of a long-horned beetle. These beetles seem to like coração de negro trees because during the course of the year, dozens of branches are thrown to the ground.

Coração de Negro

Coração de Negro trees (Chamecrista negrensis) have been in bloom for the last few days. As the flowers fall off the trees they lay down a beautiful carpet of pedals.

Lone photographer, continued

This about as close as I wanted to get to Kit Taylor, for fear that I would do something irrational, like taking that camera away from him. In the two days he spent at the Bosque, he kept it in macro mode, which produces pictures like I've never seen before. I pointed out a colony of army ants bivouacking in a fallen palm tree to him this morning. As we got ready to return to Santarem, he showed me some of the shots. He could actually zero in on the eyes of the ants! Gee, I'd be dangerous with a camera like that.

Lone photographer

Kit Taylor, blends in very well with the local environment as he gets in some shots of very small orchid flowers. That tree in bloom is a coração de negro (Chamecrista negrensis). The left half of the tree died 4-5 years ago. I blamed it on the long hot summer, but I don't know if that was the case. Regardless, we have numerous stands of this species. Aside from being a professional photographer, Kit has some spectacular camera equipment for macro work. I tried to keep my distance from him because I slobbered every time I looked at his Nikon. I'll be sharing some of his images in the near future.

Paricá seeds, continued

A few months later the rains come and that very hard paricá seed softens up and germinates. The birth of a tree, so to speak.

Paricá seeds, continued

In this image a peek at what's inside the envelope, nothing less than a seed! The immature seed off to the left is from another seedpod. The other one is at its best in terms of development. As it dries out, it'll get hard as a nail. Very wood-like would be a better term. For those not having seen a germinated seed, I'm repeating an image from the past.

Paricá seeds, continued

In this image the outer parts of the paricá seedpod with the seed envelop removed.

Paricá seeds, continued

The most photographed hand in the Amazon holding an opened paricá seedpod. Really a beautiful little package. Note that the single seed is wrapped up in a white envelop.

Paricá seeds, continued

A few days ago I posted an image of a paricá tree (Schizolobium parahyba) loaded with seed pods. They're starting to fall now. Two pods in the attached image. I should add that I'm holding two separate pods. What's inside, coming up.

Envira flower

These flowers are rather fragile, but I found this one in its entirety.

Envira flower

Yellow seems to be a very popular color among trees in the forest. One can't jump to conclusions when seeing a tree full of yellow flowers, or a single flower on the ground. This one I happen to know. The name of the tree is envira periquiteira (Cochlospermum sp.). I hope I got the genus name right. Notice the trunk of the envira. Those round holes are made by silvery marmoset monkeys, which consume the sap and resin of the tree.

Old leaves

I wonder who or what knocked this bunch of leaves off the tree. Could have been the wind; could have been a monkey; could have been a bird; who knows? Regardless, they all fell together to be caught by a tree branch below. Then they dried together - into a beautiful picture.

Passion fruit vines, continued

Flowers and buds from one of the stems coming off one of the larger passiflora vines. There must be some sweetness there with all those ants on the buds. Notice that these stems are right on the ground.

Passion fruit vines, continued

In this image, the flower produced by plant. What I find puzzling is how few flowers develop from such a mass of vines. At the time I took this picture, this was the only flower! It was up at about two meters high in a jungle of vines and other plants and trees. It was getting just enough sunlight to be beautiful.

Passion fruit vines, continued

New leaves of the passion fruit plant. There are several different species of wild passion fruit at Bosque Santa Lucia. Each has a different leaf pattern.

Passion fruit vines, continued

In this image, two new passion fruit (passiflora sp.) stems coming off a vine

Passion fruit vines

You may think that I'm putting you on about these big vines being passion fruit plants. I couldn't believe it myself until I really studied them. They are close to the reception center at the Bosque and I'm sure we've cut many of them in clearing up space for palms and other special trees. More images coming.