The nursery

Planted in Fazenda (Brazil)
Once the required size is reached, the plants are transferred to the Fazenda. They are then planted, maintained, examined and measured. Some plant species have been specially chosen to encourage the return of wild animals.

Discover in your turn the main trees planted in the Fazenda:

Tabebuia

Welcome to the Tabebuia, Ipê for close friends. Our tribe covers about ten species of trees, no doubt the best known and the most widespread in Brazil. In the Fazenda too, we are very much present. Due to our rapid initial growth in this sunny environment, we account for 20% of the plants established. We owe our renown to the delicateness of our flowers. Having inspired so many poets and writers, they must be among the more beautiful in the world, and their brilliant colours are a delight for gardeners. Thanks to our palette of white, yellow and mauve, we form real masterpieces, transforming the meanest park into a sumptuous picture. Faced with such splendour, it is very hard to say which of us is most beautiful. However, it's I, the yellow Îpé, who have had the honour of being designated by Brazil as its national flower.

Hymenea courbaril

I'm called Hymenea courbaril, in tribute to Hymen, the Greek god of marriage, because my leaves come always in pairs. I'm liked, liked a lot, sometimes even madly. Is it because of my delightful brown fruits, which contain a nutritious flour greatly appreciated by humans and the animals of the forest?
Unless I owe it to this fervour for the strange yellow resin secreted at the base of my trunk, which is reputed for its medicinal virtues? It is true that, when brewed, my extremely energy-full bark is both tonic and fortifying. A real tonic, which the Brazilian lumberjacks drink to overcome fatigue and work like slaves. The Indians of the Amazon have long used my resin for their magic rituals. They made love potions from it for their wedding ceremonies. You see? I've really every reason to be loved!

Inga edulis

If you are looking for a first-aid worker, you've come to the right place! Like a good Inga edulis, I'm always prepared to help! A cut forest requiring urgent  reforestation? No problem, I grow everywhere, and easily too! My neighbour, the Mogno, is attacked by parasites? I trap them and eradicate them immediately! Whole populations of starving howler monkeys, spider monkeys or birds to be saved from famine? My delightful vanilla ice cream perfume, which has earned me the nickname "icecream bean", satisfies the appetite of the greediest. Animals love me, which ensures the dissemination of my seeds. That's right. Before saving the world, you must first think your own survival!

Simarouba amara

Generally, when you offer a plant direct exposure to the sun, it runs away! You have to understand it, it wouldn't resist very long. Well, for me, the Simarouba amara, burning heat leaves me indifferent. And even in a deteriorated region, in fierce heat, as is the case in the Fazenda, I grow very fast! But that's not all, I'm also an excellent remedy for malaria and dysentery, as was observed by the French explorers who discovered me in French Guiana in the 18th century. To thank me, they made my reputation throughout the world and, even today, I am used as a natural medicine in several countries!

Swietenia macrophylla

Nowadays when you are a Swietenia macrophylla, it is better to avoid shouting it in the woods! Although I am protected by law, my species is dying out, a victim of uncontrolled exploitation. The Brazilians call me the Mogno, and my nickname is "the green gold". To them I represent a treasure, because due to my resistance and colouring, Europeans pay fortunes to convert me into luxury furniture. Once manufactured, my price is multiplied by 3000. This money makes people made, and their madness results in massacres. in a few hours, poachers cut us down by dozens, whereas we take 100 years to reach adulthood. My only chance of survival will be application of the new draconian rules established by the Brazilian authorities to limit my exploitation and better control my sale. In the Fazenda, they are indeed trying to replant me, but the battle is far from won.  I do not withstand being completely uncovered, and I am so sensitive to insects that, even taking care to disperse the plantations to avoid massive attacks, most of my plants are affected. So you see, I am attacked on all sides! When it's not by idiots, it's by animals! 

Chorisia speciosa

If I measure only 3 metres, it is because I am still a baby Chorisia speciosa! I was only a small plant 20 cm high when I arrived at the Fazenda. You see my rough bark covered with thorns? It protects me from predators during my long growth stage. Be reassured, I am equipped to resist the hard life of the grasslands, and even the most invasive graminaceae cannot prevent me from thriving.  Come back and see me in 50 years' time, and I bet you will confuse me with my cousin the Baobab. My bottle shaped trunk, 1.20 metres in diameter, will be a real water reservoir. A precious commodity thanks to which, from my 30-metre height, I will stud the burning sky with my brilliant flowers!

Hevea brasiliensis

A little conundrum:
Where does rubber, that soft and solid material used to manufacture your tyres, your balls and your shoe soles, come from? From my blood, just imagine. Or rather from my sap, because I am a tree. For a very long time now the Indians of the Amazon have taken it from my trunk. But Europeans have known it only since 1745 AD. It was Charles de Condamine, the French scientist who defined the exact position of the equator, who brought back samples. One century later, an Englishman illegally imported my seeds to England and disseminated them in the colonies, and this, incidentally, created tough competition for Brazil. This is because rubber is worth quite a few peanuts! After the Second World War, industrial firms tried to replace my latex with synthetic rubber, supposed to be easier to work and more economical. But they never managed to equal my qualities. Today, I am cultivated for my precious nectar on millions of hectares! So my future is assured!