Evergreen

Tachigali aurea

Tachigali aurea

The Tachigali aurea is common in the Brazilian ‘sertão’, or savanna hinterland. There was an erasure of the term sertão which was “directly proportional to the consolidation of the term cerrado”. This consolidation of the focus on the biome and botany, instead of the focus on the cultural or ancestral characteristics associated with the biome, happened when the demarcation of the Central Plateau began to be planned for the development of what would become the capital of the 'United States of Brazil'. The construction of this narrative aimed to place the capital in the Center of the country, and not in the Hinterland. As such, the geopolitical conceptualization of Brasília's symbolic power needed to marginalize the term 'sertão', and incorporate ‘cerrado’, or savanna. A parent tree of the Tachigali family (synonymous with Sclerolobium), and two medium-sized Tachigali aurea can be found in Parque Olhos D’Água in Brasília. The grayish-white trunk of the parent tree, with wide and irregular branches, guarantees unique characteristics. Due to the beauty of this trunk, it was widely exploited for its wood. The fruits of this evergreen tree are winged and dispersed by the wind.

Calophyllum brasiliense

Guanandi

This seed is from a species of evergreen tree considered one of the firsts to be named “wood of law” by the Portuguese crown, alongside Brazilwood (Pau Brasil). These hardwoods became symbols of Portugal's economic, and juridical, monopoly on raw materials from the new land conquered by the crown, which today we call Brazil. As such, the term for hardwood in Portuguese became madeira de lei (“wood of law”). They were used for the building of colonial enterprise infrastructures, such as in the construction of railways and ships. Brazilwood (Paubrasilia echinata) as timber was so central to this process that it named the country. Meanwhile, Calophyllum brasiliense was named Guanandi, which in Tupi means “what is sticky”, due to the balsam in its bark that operates like natural latex. The Guanandi's perfectly straight log also provided excellent posts for Portuguese colonizers' vessels. A wild parent tree in Brasília-DF provided this Calophyllum brasiliense seed for the Seeds and Tales project.

Paepalanthus chiquitensis

Paepalanthus chiquitensis

The Paepalanthus chiquitensis is a type of Gramineae endemic to the Brazilian cerrado (or savanna), which can be used to restore areas degraded by fires. The Gramineae family is also known as grass, and this species of grass is a spectacular, evergreen bloomer. Evergreen flowers, after being harvested and dried, do not lose their color, and many of these species are threatened with extinction due to their unsustainable export. This seed was acquired from the Cerrado de Pé initiative, which is responsible for collecting, protecting and dispersing seeds native to the Brazilian cerrado biome.

"In fact, Paepalanthus is not Poaceae (Graminae), but rather part of the Eriocaulaceae family. However, due to its habit and size, it can be considered "graminoid" or from the stratum graminosa." (@salve_cerrado, June 19, 2024)

Ormosia arborea

Olho de cabra

[pronunciation: ohlio gee kahbra; meaning: ‘goat’s eye’] Ormosia arborea is an evergreen tree with a dense, wide, roundish crown, which can grow up to 20 meters tall. It can be grown as a pioneer species for restoring woodland and is a tree that provides good shade for smaller plants. The leaves of evergreen plants don’t fall according to the seasons, so in Nordic, European and Christian cultures, these trees symbolize immortality by remaining green in winter. The olho-de-cabra, on the other hand, is “exclusive” to Brazil, and its seeds are used as amulets by African diasporic religions. This beautiful seed can vary between shades of red and orange, clearly delimited by a black section. It was acquired from seed guardians and donated to the Mário Lago settlement in Ribeirão Preto, in the inland of São Paulo State, for the reforestation and agroforestry project led by settlers of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil.