Brazil Nut Trees
These Brazil nut trees were in a stand beside the road from Alta Floresta (High Trees) to the Rio Juruena River as testament to very recent rain forest clearance. As you probably know it is generally illegal to cut down Brazil Nut trees and they quite often stand alone, along much of this road on grazing land (cattle). If you look behind you can see smoke from fires clearing trees and scrub. The road runs for 247 km and 20 years ago travelled entirely through pristine rain forest. Of course, there is no chance of any of these trees producing brazil nuts.
The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest.
