Rhizotron & Xstrata Treetop Walkway
12 February 2008 12.33pm
Capirona flowers on the forest floor.
In the dense, tall forest of Southern Amazon, the first evidence of a species can often be found in the forest floor. It is a bit of a puzzle to put together what flower and what fruit belong to these tall trees, with their flowering and fruiting branches high above the forest floor. I first encountered Capirona decorticans during an expedition to Mato Grosso with a team from Kew, University of São Paulo and State University of Mato Grosso, where the objective was to survey the Parque Estadual Cristalino to provide information to its management plan.
Capirona trees are easily recognized within the survey plots by their smooth bark, which peels in fine layers revealing a shiny new 'skin', and they are known as 'braço de moça' or 'maiden's arm' by the forest guides in that region. It must be a mighty woman with arms easily reaching 20 cm in diameter and 30 m tall! Technically, it is one of the few large trees of the coffee family in that region, being related to Cinchona, the source of quinine, whose bark is used to treat malaria. Capirona is native to the Amazon basin, and it is also used to treat malaria by the local people.
Capirona tree trunk showing very smooth, exfoliating bark.
Tags: Betula albosinensis, Betula pendula
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