Hevea rigidifolia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
Genus: | Hevea |
Species: | H. rigidifolia |
Binomial name | |
Hevea rigidifolia (Spruce ex Benth.) Müll.Arg. | |
Hevea rigidifolia is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea , belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the rainforests of northern Brazil and Colombia, [1] where it is endemic to localities near the upper Rio Negro, a north bank tributary of the Amazon River, and its tributary, the Vaupés River. [2]
H. rigidifolia is a small tree reaching about 18 m (60 ft) in height. Annual growth is in the form of vigorous spur shoots with short internodes, scale-like leaves on the lower portions and normal foliage on the upper portions. The leaves, which are bent back when they first emerge, are trifoliate and markedly different to those of other members of the genus, being smooth and glossy, thick, stiff and leathery in texture, with inrolled margins on the underside. The tree is evergreen, because the shoots and leaves grow before the old foliage is shed. [2] The inflorescence is borne in the axil of a scale leaf. Separate male and female flowers are present, the flowers being large, with markedly twisted calyx lobes. The fruits are green with reddish tips and contain three large hexagonal seeds, measuring 27 by 20 mm (1.1 by 0.8 in). This tree is not used commercially for the production of latex having a poor reputation due to the high proportion of resins present. [2]
H. rigidifolia is endemic to the upper reaches of the Rio Negro and the Vaupés River in the northern part of the Amazon basin, near the boundary between Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. The typical habitat of H. rigidifolia is well-drained and relatively dry soils on rocky slopes. [2] This is in the Caatinga region of dry forest which has an annual precipitation of 250 to 1,000 mm (10 to 39 in) but a prolonged dry season of six or more months. [1]
The Amazon river in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed second longest river in the world.
Amazonas is a state of Brazil, located in the North Region in the northwestern corner of the country. It is the largest Brazilian state by area and the 9th largest country subdivision in the world, and is greater than the areas of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile combined. Mostly located in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the third largest country subdivision in the Southern Hemisphere after the Australian states of Western Australia and Queensland. It would be the sixteenth largest country in land area, slightly larger than Mongolia. Neighbouring states are Roraima, Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Acre. It also borders the nations of Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. This includes the Departments of Amazonas, Vaupés and Guainía in Colombia, as well as the Amazonas state in Venezuela, and the Loreto Region in Peru.
The Rio Negro, or Guainía as it is known in its upper part, is the largest left tributary of the Amazon River, the largest blackwater river in the world, and one of the world's ten largest rivers by average discharge.
Hevea brasiliensis, the Pará rubber tree, sharinga tree, seringueira, or, most commonly, the rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is the most economically important member of the genus Hevea because the milky latex extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber.
Hevea is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, with about ten members. It is also one of many names used commercially for the wood of the most economically important rubber tree, H. brasiliensis. The genus is native to tropical South America but is widely cultivated in other tropical countries and naturalized in several of them. It was first described in 1775.
Mitú is the capital city of the department of Vaupés in Colombia. It is a small town located in South eastern Colombia in the Amazon Basin. Founded in 1936, Mitú lies next to the Vaupés River at 180 meters above sea level. It is where the core of the services are provided to the Vaupés Department.
Vaupés River is a tributary of the Rio Negro in South America. It rises in the Guaviare Department of Colombia, flowing east through Guaviare and Vaupés Departments. It forms part of the international border between Colombia and the Amazonas state of Brazil. On the border it merges with the Papurí River and becomes known as the Uaupés. In 1847 an explorer saw a rapid which hurled its waves 12 or 15 metres in the air, "as if great subaqueous explosions were taking place." The river continues on east through the Alto Rio Negro Indigenous Territory until it flows into the Rio Negro at São Joaquim, Amazonas. Vaupés is a blackwater river.
Chiribiquete National Natural Park is the largest national park in Colombia and the largest tropical rainforest national park in the world. It was established on 21 September 1989 and has been expanded twice, first in August 2013 and then in July 2018. The park occupies about 43,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi) and includes the Serranía de Chiribiquete mountains and the surrounding lowlands, which are covered by tropical moist forests, savannas and rivers.
The Tariana or Taliaseri are an indigenous people of the Vaupés or Uaupés River in the Amazon region of Brazil and Colombia. Starting in the 19th century missionaries tried to persuade them to abandon their traditional beliefs and practices, with some level of success. The government made efforts to convert them to a "colony" system in exchange for health, education and economic benefits starting in the 1980s. They are now relatively autonomous within several indigenous territories.
The Pira-tapuya, or Pira-Tapuia, Piratapuyo etc. are an indigenous people of the Amazon regions. They live along the Vaupés River in Colombia and in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
The Caquetá moist forests (NT0107) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broad leaf forest to the east of the Andes in the east of Colombia, with a small section in Brazil, in the Amazon biome. The forests are in the transition between the Guiana and Amazon regions, and have highly diverse flora and fauna. They are relatively intact, although they are mostly unprotected and are threatened with deforestation to create cattle pastures.
The Negro–Branco moist forests (NT0143) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broadleaf forest to the east of the Andes in southern Venezuela, eastern Colombia and northern Brazil, in the Amazon biome. It lies on the watershed between the Orinoco and Rio Negro basins. It includes both blackwater and whitewater rivers, creating different types of seasonally flooded forest. The vegetation is more typical of the Guiana region than the Amazon.
The Japurá–Solimões–Negro moist forests (NT0132) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broad leaf forest in the Amazon biome.
Hevea nitida is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree up to 27 m (90 ft) tall. It is native to the rainforests of northern Brazil and Colombia.
Hevea guianensis is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the rainforests of Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guyanas, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. It generally grows on well-drained soils or on those that are only lightly inundated, on river banks, in gallery forests, savannah forests and wooded slopes.
Hevea spruceana is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the rainforests of northern Brazil and Guyana. It is named in honour of the English botanist Richard Spruce who spent the years 1849 to 1864 exploring the Amazon basin and sending botanical specimens back to Europe.
Hevea benthamiana is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. A medium-sized deciduous tree growing to a height of about 27 m (90
Hevea microphylla is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the Amazon basin where it occurs in Venezuela, Colombia and northern Brazil. It was first described in 1905 by the German botanist Ernst Heinrich Georg Ule. It is the only member of the genus to be included in the subgenus Microphyllae.
Hevea camargoana is a species of flowering plant in the genus Hevea, the rubber trees, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the island of Marajó in the Amazon delta in northeastern Brazil where it was discovered in 1975. It is a small tree and Its typical habitat is dry savannah and woodland bordering seasonally inundated swamps.
Strophocactus wittii, synonym Selenicereus wittii, known as the Amazon moonflower, is a species of plant in the genus Strophocactus in the cactus family (Cactaceae), and is one of several species commonly called "moonflowers". It was first described in 1900 and is one of three species of cactus found in the central Amazon basin.