P24_569
Respected packaging
Fruit of the Brazil Nut Tree (Bertholletia excelsa)
Opening a Brazil nut pod is an arduous undertaking for those who are not used to it. The caboclo does this very naturally, holding the pod in his hand and, in general, with only three blows with a machete, the tenacious bark open. In the forest there is only one being who dedicates himself to this task on a regular basis. The agouti (Dasyprocta agouti) gnaws for hours until it reaches the precious contents. Sometimes a cunning monkey stays hidden, holding back its impatience, until the rodent completes its task, and then, it comes out in plain sight and scares the agouti, taking its war booty, immediately targeted by the other monkeys in the flock.
The monkey “[…] can try to take advantage of a pod opened by an agouti, but the small opening of the pod only hurts the monkey’s hand. The old monkey, already knowing this, uses his fingertips to pick out the almonds one by one. They say that’s where the proverb came from: ‘old monkey doesn’t put his hand in a bowl’. The rubber tappers in Acre say that the capuchin monkey are able to open the old pods. The monkey blows through the pod’s hole and then slams it against a branch until it breaks. But often the monkey who did all the work on top of the tree loses the seeds to others who are waiting down there.” (Castanheira – Karen Kainer, Margaret Cymerys, Lúcia Wadt, Valdirene Argolo).
I have heard in the forest, sometimes, the rhythmic sound of insistent tapping, for hours on end. A true bushman and friend, Chico, worked with me for several years in forest operations and he told me that it was the monkey beating the pod on a thick branch to open it.
P24_569 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Nikkor lens 80-200mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film
Original file size: 5283px x 3574px
Location Taken: Rio Preto (Rio Preto da Eva – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1995
Collection: Forest resources – Persons shown: Alves
Keywords:
castanheira, Bertholletia excelsa, Brazil Nut tree, árvore emergente, big trees, emergent tree, árvores, trees, FLORA, plantas, plants, castanhas, nuts, frutos, fruits, castanha da Amazônia, Bazil nuts, castanha do Brasil, castanha do Pará, selênio, selenium, caboclos, caboclo, GENTE, PEOPLE, Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America
EN1 Desired nuts P24_569
PT1 Castanhas desejadas P24_569
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos
Reverence to the Brazil Nut tree
Brazil Nut tree fruit (Bertholletia excelsa)
Here is a reverence, an act of communion with a generous being that offered its generous fruits, for centuries and centuries, for generations and generations, of agoutis, macaws, monkeys, among others, and, of course, mainly of humans. With an average of 1000 nuts per year, a thousand-year-old tree has already yielded a million nuts. Didn’t have to do anything, just pick it up. In the past, humanity was already very grateful, when gratitude was not sold.
The fruit is known as Brazil nut, Brazil nut and, recently, Amazonian nut, which would be the most appropriate name due to its diffusion throughout all Amazonian countries. In Spanish-speaking countries it is called “almendra amazónica”. The indigenous names, among others, are juvia, tururi and tocari.
There are large Brazil Nut groves in the Amazon, planted thousands of years ago. Planted? By whom? In scientific circles, the idea that the tree was domesticated is suggested, although this term is quite reductive. Bertholletia excelsa is the result of extensive cooperation, as is every living thing. It is practically impossible to understand the behavior of a specific plant or animal without considering the direct and indirect influence of the biome as a whole. The design of the Brazil Nut blossom is not by chance, it responds to the innate knowledge of totality. Thus the design of the pod, its consistency, its shape, the hole and the navel that fits it, the not, its composition, its nutritional value is the gift that it offered to the appreciation of humans and animals.
In my years of living in the forest I realized how intuition presents itself when the feeling of ‘being part of a whole’ directs understanding. All other living beings enjoy this state of ‘connection with the whole’ (ants know when it’s going to rain, orchids know which pollinator will fertilize them, cicadas announce summer), on the other hand, for some hidden reason, human beings will insist on separating until, on themself, they discover that we are all one, all connected. Only then will I clearly see the fabulous process of the Brazil Nut tree in all its magnificence, in 5D, in its multidimensional relationships with the agouti, with the orchid, with the pollinator, with the chestnut tree, with the climber who dared to visit its heights, among many others.
The ancient civilizations, the most connected with nature, indicated a human being in a test condition, a test that would allow him to discover by himself the great power of the whole. Even our own civilization, in its extreme denial of nature, is creating complex theories of quantum entanglement that ultimately lead to the same destination: everything is connected to everything, instantaneously, wherever they are in the universe.
B27_3424 – Leonide Principe
Equipment: NIKON D200 with lens AF 60mm f/2.8 set at 60 mm – Exposition: ISO: 100 – Aperture: 16 – Shutter: 1/2.5 – Program: Aperture Priority – Exp. Comp.: -1.3,
Original digital capture of a real life scene
Original file size: 3904px x 2616px
Location: Abra144 (Presidente Figueiredo – Amazonas Brazil)
Date: March 6, 2007 – Time: 1:11:16 PM
Collection: Brazil Nut Tree – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
castanheira, Bertholletia excelsa, Brazil Nut tree, árvore emergente, big trees, emergent tree, árvores, trees, FLORA, plantas, plants, castanhas, nuts, frutos, fruits, castanha da Amazônia, Bazil nuts, castanha do Brasil, castanha do Pará, selênio, selenium, Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, castanha-da-amazônia, Brazil nut, castanha-do-brasil, castanha-do-pará, juvia, tocari, tururi, ouriços, pods, frutas
B27_3424 Brazil Nut tree fruit EN2
B27_3424 Fruto da Castanheira-da-Amazônia PT2
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos
Selenium
Brazil Nut tree fruit (Bertholletia excelsa)
“They also say that people who consume selenium are more sympathetic
and confident. The diet of the majority of the population of the United States, where Brazil Nut trees do not grow, includes only 20% of the recommended selenium. But in the land of Brazil Nut, where this problem should not occur, there are still people deficient in selenium, running the risk of catching viruses, developing cancer, having less energy and more bad temper. Studies show that bad moods can be associated with low amounts of selenium in the body. Selenium proteins play an important role as antioxidants.
Oxidation plays a role in aging, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Selenium can be used in the treatment of these diseases.”
(Castanheira, p. 68, Karen Kainer, Margaret Cymerys,
Lucia Wadt, Valdirene Argolo)
A137_7334 – Leonide Principe
Equipment: NIKON D2X with lens AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 set at 60 mm – Exposition: ISO: 100 – Aperture: 8 – Shutter: 1/60 – Program: Normal – Exp. Comp.: +0.3,
Original digital capture of a real life scene
Original file size: 2868px x 4320px
Location: Abra144 (Presidente Figueiredo – Amazonas Brazil)
Date: August 27, 2009 – Time: 9:53:50 AM
Collection: Castanheira – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
castanheira, Bertholletia excelsa, Brazil Nut tree, árvore emergente, big trees, emergent tree, árvores, trees, FLORA, plantas, plants, castanhas, nuts, frutos, fruits, castanha da Amazônia, Bazil nuts, selênio, selenium, GENTE, PEOPLE, Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, castanha-da-amazônia, castanha-do-brasil, castanha-do-pará, frutas
EN3 Selenium A137_7334
PT3 Selênio A137_7334
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos
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