Indigenous name

Schinus terebinthifolia

Brazilian peppertree

Red-aroeira is a vulnerable plant in its native region of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, but it has enjoyed prominence in regions where it is considered exotic, such as the United States. Its leaves have antimicrobial properties, and its pink-peppercorn seed is a sweet and fruity culinary treat. This tree has been a valuable resource for Indigenous Guarani communities, and was traditionally used in the treatment of rheumatic pains and dislocations through leaf compresses.

Peltophorum dubium

Yellow poinciana, Yvyrá Pytã

Yvyrá Pytã, in Guarani, means ‘red wood’. In Paraguay, it was considered a “symbol of the forest's resilience”, when it won the 2021 “Colosos de la Tierra” competition. This competition, which was in its tenth edition in 2021, aims to raise awareness of biodiversity in Paraguay. Yvyra Pytã from Alto Verá was one of more than 600 trees registered based on their height and trunk diameter. In 2022, the contest had its first international edition, where a 61-meter-tall Brazilian Samaúma (Ceiba pentandra) won as “the largest tree in Latin America and the Caribbean”. These Yvyrá Pytã seeds were purchased from seed keepers in the state of Minas Gerais.

(Yvyrá, wood; pitan, red.)

Arachis hypogaea

Bicolored Paraguayan peanut

The peanut is a seed native to South America, its center of origin probably being the Chaco region of Paraguay. In the Tupi language, Mãdu’bi means ‘buried’, and several popular names for this plant are derived from this indigenous concept – Minduim, Minduí, Mindubi. That's because this legume grows underground in pods of one to three edible seeds. Due to its high content of proteins and fats, peanuts are a food with the humanitarian potential to combat hunger and child malnutrition. That's why peanut butter forms the basis of therapeutic foods used in actions with this purpose. A creole seed variety such as this bicolored Paraguayan peanut is native, free from genetic manipulations, and unknown to modern agro-industrial technologies.

Syagrus oleracea

Syagrus oleracea

The Syagrus oleracea is a palm tree native to the Cerrado (the Brazilian savanna) and the Caatinga (a Brazilian semi-arid tropical biome), and is also known as ‘bitter heart of palm’, or guariroba – from the indigenous Tupi term 'gwarai-rob', which means "the bitter individual". The cerrado has had 50% of its vegetation destroyed in the last 40 years, therefore, the harvesting and extraction of this palm tree must be accompanied by diversified cultivation. Initiatives by farmers to plant genetic varieties of Syagrus oleracea are the primary solution to the challenges not only of conserving this particular tree, but to combat the deforestation of the cerrado biome as a whole. This seed was acquired from an organization that promotes the reforestation of areas in the Brazilian Cerrado, mainly those degraded by intentional fires triggered by the agribusiness sector.

Annona mucosa

Wild sweetsop

The Annona mucosa, also known as Rollinia delicious or Biribá, is native to tropical South America, whose fruit and leaves contain chemical components that are useful in combating cancer, parasites, harmful bacteria and fungi. There is a level of toxicity in the leaf extract that can kill parasites in rice crops. And from the inner part of the bark, the indigenous Pataxó people made clothing, as it forms a soft fabric. In the 2003 Hollywood film The Rundown, starring Dwayne Johnson, a fruit from the Annona family was portrayed as paralyzing, but this is a myth. This myth probably arose from the fact that an experiment was carried out where the extract from the bark of this tree, when injected into a toad, caused paralysis of one of its hind limbs.

Leucochloron incuriale

Leucochloron incuriale, Angico

This variety of Leucochloron incuriale provides excellent quality wood with an incredible and unmistakable striped pattern. The Seeds and Tales project provided these seeds for the reforestation initiative of the Mário Lago Settlement, as this tree has the potential to restore degraded areas. The Leucochloron incuriale is attributed as published and named by 2 botanists associated with the New York Botanical Garden. This garden contains the largest remaining area of the old-growth forest which covered Manhattan before the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. This land belonged to the indigenous people named Lenape, before their forced displacement during colonial wars. Today, this area represents the ever-changing characteristic of old-growth forests, which by nature demonstrates its antiquity through “constant change and variation.”

Copaifera reticulata

Amazonian Copaiba

The Amazonian Copaiba differs from its relative Copaifera langsdorffii mainly due to its size, as it can reach more than 40 meters and live for more than 400 years. The name Copaíba comes from the Tupi word ‘Kupa'iwa’, which means “deposit tree”, referring to the deposit of oil or resin in its trunk. This oil has several medicinal uses for people and plants, among other things, it acts as a biological fungicide – it is harmless to the environment when “compared to synthetic fungicides”.

Syagrus romanzoffiana

Queen palm, Jerivá

In Guarani-Mbya mythology, the Queen palm was raised by Nhanderu Pa'i, a central figure in the creation of the universe. The orange fruit of the palm was designed for human consumption, symbolizing an original creation, not a copy. However, it is said that the name “romanzoffiana” comes from a Russian Count who financed an expedition where a German poet collected a sample of this tree and recorded it in mid-1815. This tall palm tree can be found in virtually all Brazilian biomes, providing large pollen reserves for native bees and the fruits are consumed by magnificent birds such as parrots, toucans and macaws.