![]() ![]() Lack of genetic renewal is not the only threat still hanging over the species. Bees, the main pollinators, fail to carry pollen from one population to another, increasing the risk of “genetic ruin.” The quality of their genetic material decreases so much that, if a pest suddenly appeared, the invader could win the battle, because the trees would already be very weakened. With her samples already in her backpack, and happy to have discovered new specimens, Da Rosa comments that fragmentation “is the great saga of the Atlantic Forest, and of Brazilwood.” The remaining specimens are in pieces of forest far away from each other. ![]() Before being given its modern name by the Portuguese, the indigenous people called it Ibirapitanga, since in Tupi-Guarani ybirá means tree, and pitanga, means red. The Brazilwood is an imposing tree, with a robust trunk and tiny leaves. The trees can reach 30 meters (98 feet) in height. The few remaining specimens grow in the driest and most remote areas of the Atlantic Forest, a lush tropical forest biome. The very same coast where colonization began and which today is one of the most populated areas of the country. Pau Brazil is located mainly on the east coast of the country, between the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Rio de Janeiro. This small group is also possibly the southernmost in Brazil. Better to be discreet and let them grow like the thousands of plants around them, although they are not. They will have no extra help: no irrigation, no fences, no signage to avoid an accidental trampling that could be fatal. The visit is especially productive because the pair find five new saplings, just a few centimeters in height, the so-called “regenerators.” They surround them with a black cloth so that they can measure and photograph them well and then carefully move on, hoping that this new generation of trees will survive the challenging climb up to the sky. Jaílton Costa finds a regenerating Brazilwood, which are small juvenile trees that show signs of how the species is developing in Guaratiba, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. “How beautiful! Look how they’ve grown!” She takes out her tape measure to measure the trunks and her huge pruning shears several meters long to reach the canopy and take some leaf samples for the university herbalist. ![]() Arriving in the hot zone, the botanist does not hide her joy. We have to keep an eye out, because if they are there, it is possible that the famous tree is there too, although the trick, of course, does not always work. This is the name given to the trees that most commonly grow in the same area as the Brazilwood. After a while, we see the first telltale signs that are getting close: the “companion” species. Along the way, the pair stop constantly, wondering what species this flower might belong to or commenting on how well that bush has grown since the last time they passed this way. She is accompanied by a colleague, biologist Jaílton Costa, who clears a path through the lush vegetation with a machete. The way is not visible to the inexperienced. In the Pedra Branca mountain range, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Rosa makes her way through the jungle like a true explorer: covered from head to toe ( mosquito-proof, snake-proof and liana-proof) and, with a vest full of gadgets, she climbs up a steep bank to where she knows there are about thirty specimens. Among them is Patricia da Rosa, a biologist and botanist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) who has set out to get a general overview of the species’ condition, to find out how many are left in order to understand what can be done to save them.Īccompanying her on one of her expeditions is not an easy thing to do. More than 500 years later, other Brazilians are now struggling to resurrect the species. Those who traded the wood began to be called brasileiros, (Brazilians). The discovery of the Brazilwood ( Paubrasilia echinata) dye triggered a frenzy and the tree began to be cut down on a massive scale. The tree’s fibers that resembled embers ( brasas in Portuguese) could produce the brilliant scarlet red coveted by the kings and aristocrats in half of Europe. When the Portuguese conquistadors began to explore the rainforest of the Atlantic coast, they soon came across a tree whose reddish wood could be used to dye fabrics. “Red as coals, brasil.” The bright red color of its wood was responsible for the name of the tree, and later, the country. ![]()
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