Why are Brazil nuts dangerous to harvest?

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By Chelsie Vandaveer

May 2, 2002

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Suggested Reading—>Click here.

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In the Amazon basin, the castanheiros or Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa Humboldt and Bonpland) grow to tremendous heights reaching 50 meters (160 feet). The trees are thought to live 500 to 800 years. Brazil nut trees flower at the beginning of the rainy season. Each flower lasts only one day. It opens before dawn and drops from the tree in the late afternoon.

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If the flowers are pollinated, the fruits will ripen 15 months later during the next rainy season. The trees produce a hard fruit called a capsule (pod) shaped like a cannonball. Each capsule will have from 15 to 25 castañas or Brazil nuts inside and weigh about 2 kilos (5 pounds). A Brazil nut tree can produce up to 300 pods.

A castañero is one who collects fallen Brazil nut pods for a living. These pods make a castañero's life hazardous. The harvest must be well-timed, too early before all the pods have dropped and the castañero runs the risk of being killed by a falling pod. (Falling from 160 feet, the five pound fruit is traveling about 50 miles per hour when it strikes the ground.)

If the castañero is a few days too late, agoutis (housecat-sized rodents) have made off with the pods and eaten or buried the seeds. The agouti is the only animal capable of opening the pods. Forgotten by the agouti, buried seeds will germinate in 12 to 16 months.

Technically, a Brazil nut is not a true nut like a pecan or hazelnut. It is a seed with a bony testa or seed coat. The Brazil nut is about 70 percent mono- and polyunsaturated fats. It will actually burn like a candle.

TROPICOS of the Missouri Botanical Garden has a photograph of the capsules (fruit) of the Brazil nut tree. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://mobot.mobot.org/cgi-bin/search_vast?imagx=17900013

Select "1. Fruit" in the menu and click on SUBMIT. Note the Brazil nuts in the capsule on the left.

Series:  | 1 |  | 2 |  | 3 |  

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Suggested Reading:

Sometimes, a law is just nuts! Renfield's Garden - May 1, 2002
Why are Brazil nuts dangerous to harvest? Weird Plants - May 2, 2002
How did the Brazil nut tree get its name? What's in a Name? - May 3, 2002

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