A few palms around my neighborhood on the Negro River

[amazondk]

I went for a walk up the shore of the Negro River from my place in Paricatuba yesterday. The level of the Negro River is now dropping quickly as it gets toward the end of the Amazonian summer. The dry season is in full force with daily temperatures hitting 40 C and little rain. This year the river rose to nearly record levels and has dropped slower than usual due to precipitation patterns around the Amazon Basin. The access road to Paricatuba (10 kms) is now being paved so getting there will be a lot better from now on. And, I hope to spend more time working on my garden there. It has been sort of neglected lately. But, all in all things have grown.

This is a Bismarkia that has done real well. I guess it is in a favorable spot on the land.

The Eugenia precatoria group has also started to shoot up well.

The Astrocaryum aculeatum always does well. I think this is prime habitat for the tree. They grow great on very poor soil with strong equatorial sunshine.

The beach and the Mauritia grove is always a sight to appreciate.

[Mandrew968]

Thanks for the photos. Interesting...

[amazondk]

Canoes in waiting for their owners.

The river front of the Negro River has an ecosystem called the Igapoo, flooded forest. It is a rich ecosystem with many species of plants.

A common philodendron of flooded areas in Amazonia.

The stream that flows by my place is home to a large grove of Maurtia flexuosa.

One of the most common palms along the river is the Leopoldina pulchra. It lives in the sandy soils that are flooded for at least 6 months of the year in many places This is a young one holding on in the sand.

The river side forest is home to palms of the high ground forest such as the Attalea maripa in this picture.

[amazondk]

A small Leopoldina pulchra. This is a common river front palm along the Negro River. It is one of my favorites.

Mature L. pulchra

The next beach up the river has a house belonging to the Colonel, as he is called locally. He never seems to be home.

[amazondk]

The beach in front of the Colonel's place.

A lone Mauritia on the beach, not their normal habitat.

Euterpe precatoria

Astrocaryum aculeatum

[amazondk]

Sandstone outcroppings are common along the river.

Many seed germinate this time of the year as the river receeds.

Attalea maripa

[amazondk]

More L. pulchra

[amazondk]

L pulchra - a beautiful tree in all sizes.

[amazondk]

Igapo flooded forest and the black waters of the Rio Negro.

[amazondk]

Another canoe waiting for it's owner.

Someone made a private riverside pool fed by a forest stream.

The taruma - a common tree in the igapo

[bgl]

Don,

Thanks for the photos! You have such an incredibly unique place there - definitely a one-of-a-kind!

Bo-Göran

[Astrophoenix]

Oi Brasil.

I hope you will be posting many more photos from Paradise.

would you be so kind as to give some info about your life there?

[Mandrew968]

Don, I imagine that those little seedling Leopoldinia spend about half their immature life under the water? Could these be grown underwater, indefinitely? I would bet the roots can never be allowed to dry out = DEATH for this palm, no?

[realarch]

Aloha Don, so nice to see you posting again. So, the new bridge must be finished and the time from Manaus to Paricatuba must take much less time. You sound good, things are going well I hope.

Tim

[amazondk]

Don,

Thanks for the photos! You have such an incredibly unique place there - definitely a one-of-a-kind!

Bo-Göran

Thanks Bo,

The Negro River is for sure a unique place. And, our little spot is quite unique in itself. Now that the access road is being paved it will make it a lot easier to spend more time there. I have a lot of work to do.

dk

[amazondk]

Don, I imagine that those little seedling Leopoldinia spend about half their immature life under the water? Could these be grown underwater, indefinitely? I would bet the roots can never be allowed to dry out = DEATH for this palm, no?

I am not really sure how dry the roots get. I guess the main question is how deep do they get how fast. The ecosystem they grow in is very extreme. During much of the year they are submerged and the rest they get baked in the sun. Although as you can see most are in at least partial shade. Since the sand where they grow drains easily it also dries out easily. I will make it a point to dig down a bit around a young seedling to see just how dry the soil gets. I do not think the w indefinitely under water. The areas where I took the pictures are under water from 4 to 6 months a year mostly. Although in some years that could be a little more.

dk

[amazondk]

Oi Brasil.

I hope you will be posting many more photos from Paradise.

would you be so kind as to give some info about your life there?

Thanks. I am glad you like the pictures. It has been a while since I have posted much. As to my life here I am currently developing the sales of LED lighting. Not a lot to do with palms. Unless you install lights to illuminate them at night.

dk

[amazondk]

Aloha Don, so nice to see you posting again. So, the new bridge must be finished and the time from Manaus to Paricatuba must take much less time. You sound good, things are going well I hope.

Tim

Hi Tim, Yes the bridge yes the bridge has been done now for two years. That has helped a lot. The ferry boat service was a real pain. Now I can get from my house to Paricatuba in a little over an hour if the traffic in the city is light. Manaus has terrible traffic and that can be a delay. It seems like the 10 km access road will be paved finally. At least they have started to lay down asphalt and the road is graded nice and smooth. That will make a big difference. And, also let me come and go without the car turning into a mess. There are a lot of beautiful places in the world. And, in my book the Negro River is at the top part of the list.

dk

[amazondk]

Here is some information about the Negro River

http://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/rio_negro

This article cites the human occupation in the Manaus region. There are a lot of artifacts found and the population was much larger than previously thought. I am sure that Paricatuba has been inhabited for a long time. There are artifacts found in the area going back 5 to 6 thousand years. In fact the more ancient pottery is more sophisticated than the newer pieces found.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/10/amazon-brazil-stone-age-etchings

[Astrophoenix]

The area is a great mystery anyway you think about it.Rio solimoes got its name from the ancient aggressive tribe living on its banks,the Amazon of course got its name from the Amazons the existence of which Francisco de Orellana documented in the region etc.

I remember seeing a German documentary on the Rio negro twenty years ago where the explorers suddenly stumbled upon walls about ten feet tall,maybe a foot thick,astonished and perplexed they continued their exploration of the ecosystem.The archaeology of the Amazon is in its infancy.

On another note I wonder how it feels to wake up at night,step outside the entrance door and breath Amazonian air ,underneath the Magellanic clouds.

[tjwalters]

Very nice! Please post more when you have the opportunity.

[amazondk]

The area is a great mystery anyway you think about it.Rio solimoes got its name from the ancient aggressive tribe living on its banks,the Amazon of course got its name from the Amazons the existence of which Francisco de Orellana documented in the region etc.

I remember seeing a German documentary on the Rio negro twenty years ago where the explorers suddenly stumbled upon walls about ten feet tall,maybe a foot thick,astonished and perplexed they continued their exploration of the ecosystem.The archaeology of the Amazon is in its infancy.

On another note I wonder how it feels to wake up at night,step outside the entrance door and breath Amazonian air ,underneath the Magellanic clouds.

Thanks for the comments. There are estimates that the Amazon region had up to 10 million inhabitants at the time of European contact. And, these people had modified large areas of the region. There are estimates that up to 15 percent of the Amazon forest was deforested at this time. Today the total is about 18 percent. The form was different though as it was in smaller tracks not larger areas such as ranches and farms. Here in Manaus there must have been large populations. The combination of the varzea flooded forest, the fish rich Solimoes / Amazon river and the Negro river with it's sandy beaches and near absence of biting insects made for a natural place for human population to flourish. There is no accident that Manaus today has around 2 million inhabitants. There must have been a lot of contact between this part of South America and the Andean region. It is common in Manaus to find funeral urns of precolombian times when excavating for construction.

There is nothing like sitting by the Negro River on an isolated beach under the full moon.

dk

[amazondk]

Very nice! Please post more when you have the opportunity.

Thanks Tom.

[amazondk]

At this point I reached the end of the morning's trail.

Here is a video of a part of the hike back. I walked through the area that a short time ago was under water.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=Pl0dZP1Vkfc&feature=vm

[amazondk]

This video shows an area within the flooded forest and some L. pulchra palms. The lighter colored leaves on the vegetation marks where the water was at high point this year.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=sDt_xVQBFt4

[Astrophoenix]

Unfortunately I can't watch these videos and I hope I am the only one who cannot.

I tried from my windows phone,my only device with internet connection at the moment and couldn't.

I think it asks for your login information.

[amazondk]

Unfortunately I can't watch these videos and I hope I am the only one who cannot.

I tried from my windows phone,my only device with internet connection at the moment and couldn't.

I think it asks for your login information.

That is too bad. I published them as public, so you should have access. I am seeing about uploading to another service and will let you know.

dk

[amazondk]

George,

You can try this link on my one drive to see if it works.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C410B73ADBA9F6CF%213020

[J. australis]

Wonderful stuff, Don.

Your posts and pics give the rest of the planet an insight into the Amazonian world. Once again thanks, for showing us things we couldn't see without you.

[Rafael]

Muito obrigado pela partilha, lugares e palmeiras incríveis

Thanks a lot for sharing!

[amazondk]

Jo,

I am glad you enjoyed. Amazonia is a world of it's own in many ways. There are other large tropical forests in the world. But, non compare to Amazonia.

Rafael,

È um prazer imenso compartilhar um pouco do ponto do mundo onde vivo. A TAP tem voos direto de Manaus a Lisboa agora. Eu gostaria muito de conhecer Portugal. Quem sabe vou conseguir um dia.

Um grande abraço, dk

[Hammer]

Great stuff!!! Thank you for sharing. The Amazon is so primally attractive. I have always had a fascination with the region. At one time or another, I 've kept many species of fish from the rivers there. Maybe I should restock my empty tank with some Amazonian fish again.

[hbernstein]

I wonder why Leopoldinia isn't in horticulture? It seems that it wouldn't be any more challenging than several other amazonian palms such as Mauritia, Mauritiella, Phytelephas, etc.

It seems like a beautiful, petite palm.

[amazondk]

Great stuff!!! Thank you for sharing. The Amazon is so primally attractive. I have always had a fascination with the region. At one time or another, I 've kept many species of fish from the rivers there. Maybe I should restock my empty tank with some Amazonian fish again.

My pleasure. As to the fish most of them come from an area up river from Manaus in the vicinity of the town of Barcelos. They have a festival every year in honor of the tropical fish exports.

dk

[amazondk]

I wonder why Leopoldinia isn't in horticulture? It seems that it wouldn't be any more challenging than several other amazonian palms such as Mauritia, Mauritiella, Phytelephas, etc.

It seems like a beautiful, petite palm.

I agree that it is a beautiful palm. I think that it would grow well in landscapes as long as the climate is right and enough moisture. There are a bunch of them planted on the grounds of a hotel in Manaus on dry land and they do fine.

dk

[DoomsDave]

Wow, Don, that is one hell of a 'hood!

More?

How about Manaus, and the parks there? Bet there's palms galore!

[Darold Petty]

Glad you're back, Don. Thanks for the photos and info !

[amazondk]

Dave, Nice to have your comments. Regarding palms around town there are a lot. There are scattered forest fragments around town with Mauritias and other natives. And, there are parks with exotics planted. But, the city could do a lot more. Manaus actually has what I believe is the largest tropical forest reserve in the world within the city limits. That is the reserva Ducke which has an area of 10,000 hecatres. The reserve is home to jaguars, harpy eagles and all of the typical animals of the region. Not to mention a good selection of the native vegetation. Years ago I posted a video from the reserve that Dean did for me.

Thanks Darold, glad you enjoyed.

[amazondk]

Here are a few pictures of the forested part of my place. It is bordered on the slope side of the land by the Mauritia grove and stream that can be seen from first pictures of the thread in slides one and two.

One of the native trees I like a lot is the Astrocaryum acaule.

[amazondk]

The slope of the land is old secondary forest and has many of the typical species from the Terra Firme ecosystem.

Escada de Jaboti - Turtle ladder vine.