The Black Wood of the Atlantic Forest
The brauna (“Melanoxylon brauna”) is a species of tree belonging to the Fabaceae family, typical of the Atlantic Forest, and due to its valuable wood, it is now at risk of disappearing.
CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Luiza F. A. de Paula
Black wood
Melanoxylon brauna is a tree with black wood.
Meaning of the name
Melano comes from the Greek melanos = melanin, a dark pigment present in the skin, alluding to the dark color of the heartwood (black wood), while xylon comes from wood. The epithet brauna comes from the Tupi ibirá-uma, which means “black wood”.
Flora Brasiliensis: Vol. I, Part I, Fasc. See Urban Plate 36 (1906)CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Occurrence
Popularly called brauna, this species is typical of the Atlantic Forest and can occur from southeast to northeast Brazil. The lithograph from Flora Brasiliensis portrays a typical tropical forest environment, where the brauna originally occurred in abundance.
Brauna in Flora Brasiliensis
Details of the brauna were recorded in Flora Brasiliensis, a multi-volume work on the flora of Brazil resulting from the travels (1817-1820) of the German naturalists Spix and Martius through the country.
Its flowers are vivid yellow with orange hues, and are fragrant.
Its fruits are legumes, varying from 8 cm to 18 cm in length by 3 cm to 4 cm in width. Legumes are typical of the Fabaceae family to which brauna belongs, the same family as beans and soy.
Its leaves are compound, meaning they have a blade subdivided into leaflets, presenting petioles that join and attach to a common petiole. As the entire arrangement is associated with a lateral bud (at the base), this entire set of leaflets forms a single leaf. The photograph shows an entire leaf with leaflets.
Brauna is an example of an Atlantic Forest species that has been largely removed from its natural environment to provide high-quality and highly resistant wood, used for furniture, bridges, railroad ties, and general construction.
Under threat of extinction
Due to the excessive removal of the species from nature, Melanoxylon brauna is on the Official List of Endangered Flora Species of Brazil. An endangered species is one whose populations are declining to the point of jeopardizing its survival.
Ecological functions: soil enrichment
Fabaceae like brauna play an important role in ecosystems: nitrogen fixation in the soil, a process by which nitrogen present in the atmosphere is converted into forms that can be used by plants. Eliminating these species therefore impoverishes the soils.
Flora Brasiliensis: Vol. I, Part I, Fasc. See Urban Plate 16 (1906)CRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Deforestation
Since the beginning of the colonization of Brazil, the Atlantic Forest has been deforested, for example to create roads and cities, for agropastoral activities, and to exploit natural resources such as wood.
Habitat loss
This plate from Flora Brasiliensis reveals the deforestation of the Atlantic Forest in the early 19th century. Given the continuous and growing threats to the biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest, today between 7-11% of this biome remains, with many of its species threatened with extinction.
Anthropocene
We live in the Anthropocene era, a term used to describe the most recent period in the Earth’s history, when human activities began to have a global impact on the planet’s climate and the functioning of its ecosystems, putting many species at risk of extinction.
Melanoxylon brauna (brauna) in an Atlantic Forest remnant (2023) by Renato Carvalho FrancoCRIA - Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Conservation in focus
During this century, it is our task to invest in the recovery of degraded areas, aiming to restore the environmental functionality of the Atlantic Forest, and to focus on conservation projects for endangered species like brauna so that they can recover their natural populations once more.
Research and writing: Luiza F. A. de Paula (Federal University of Minas Gerais / CRIA)
Assembly: Luiza F. A. de Paula
Review: João Renato Stehmann (Federal University of Minas Gerais), Renato De Giovanni (CRIA), Fernando B. Matos (CRIA)
References: Flora Brasiliensis (http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/opus), Travels in Brazil (https://www2.senado.leg.br/bdsf/handle/id/573991)
Additional information: http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/stories
Acknowledgments: All the authors of the photos and characters in the story
*Every effort has been made to credit the images, audio, and video and correctly recount the episodes narrated in the exhibitions. If you find errors and/or omissions, please email contato@cria.org.br
Interested in Natural history?
Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.