The Rainforest

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Descriptions of the Rainforest

Along the rivers and in forest clearings /light gaps are several opportunist plants and trees that than scramble with everything else for light in the canopy wait for a gap to appear and take advantage of it quickly

CECROPIAS:

Are one of the most obvious and most common trees a in the rainforest they have very pale grey (almost white) bark and large umbrella like hand shaped leaves and are found everywhere in tambopata Cecropia produce hundreds of seeds each year that can lie dormant for a couple of years in the soil as soon as a gap in the rainforest appears either as a result of a tree fall or human disturbance they colonies the area and grow quickly (2,5m/ year)

Like the Tagarana tree they also employ ants ( Azteca’s) to clear vines from their branches and hollow trunks they have definitely benefited from human activity in the region clearance for agriculture has resulted in cecropias being present in large numbers especially adjacent to the rivers where disturbance has been most extensive another plant that everyone will encounter here the

HELICONIA:

This close relative of the banana is another plant that enjoys a lot of sunlight in disturbed areas especially along the edges of lodge clearings it is red and yellow bracts (the flowers are hidden within) are a favorite nectar source for the many species of humming birds that inhabit the rainforest the most abundant species in tambopata is the parrots is beak or lobster claw

Helicon due to the shape of it is bracts the balsa tree is found along the rivers and streams in tambopata and is quite often associated with the Cecropi it too likes disturbed areas it has pale bark like the cecropia but it is leaves are heart shaped and it does not have ants living inside it is branches the locals use the balsa buoyant wood to make rafts (bolsa means raft in Peru) on which they transport produce to market

ORCHID:

orchids are often included in people is images of the rainforest however many species of this very diverse group are epiphyte living high in the branches of other trees there are many different kinds but you tend not to see them unless you find a fresh tree fall and the orchid happens to be in flower (some species flower for only a couple of days a year or even less frequently

[tab: Picture]La Selva