🇧🇷 The flowers of Brazil
88 pages from Brazil: its flowers, the things made with them and the places to see them, across 22 cities and regions.
Brazil is home to more plant species than any other country, with about 55,000 recorded kinds and a third found nowhere else. Its vast area includes the Amazon rainforest, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado savanna, Pantanal wetlands, and more. Orchids, the pau-brasil tree, and many edible fruits are especially notable in its flora.
The plant life of Brazil
Brazil’s plant life is unmatched in its diversity, with around 55,000 known species and about 30% of them unique to the country. The landscape ranges from dense rainforests and moist Atlantic woodlands to open savannas and wetlands. The Amazon, which covers much of Brazil, is a major center of global plant diversity. The Atlantic Forest and Cerrado also support a rich mix of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Wetlands like the Pantanal add even more variety. This range of habitats makes Brazil the world’s richest country for flowering plants.
From region to region in Brazil
Plant life in Brazil shifts with the land. The Amazon rainforest is dense and humid, filled with towering trees and countless undergrowth species. The Atlantic Forest, though much reduced, mixes moist and dry forests and even mangroves along the coast. The Cerrado is a savanna with a great variety of grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers. The Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland, supports thousands of plant species. In the far north, nutrient-poor soils on tepui plateaus allow unusual carnivorous plants to thrive.
Flowers to know in Brazil
Among Brazil’s best-known plants is the pau-brasil, or brazilwood, once common along the Atlantic coast and the source of the country’s name. Overharvesting for its red dye nearly wiped it out. Orchids are found throughout the country, with hundreds of species from groups like Cattleya and Laelia. Monte Roraima, on the border with Venezuela, is famous for its insect-eating plants adapted to poor soils. Brazil also leads the world in native edible fruit species.
Threats and protection in Brazil
Brazil’s forests are under severe threat from logging, agriculture, and biofuel production. More than a fifth of the Amazon and almost all of the Atlantic Forest have been cleared, putting many plant species at risk. Conservation areas protect some forests, but habitat loss continues. The pau-brasil tree is a symbol of these threats, having been pushed close to extinction by overuse. Ongoing deforestation and expansion of crops like sugarcane for ethanol remain major challenges.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Wildlife of Brazil", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Phool rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Flower experiences in Brazil
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro · All yearThe Jardim Botânico of Rio de JaneiroA botanic garden founded in 1808 at the foot of Corcovado, with an avenue of royal palms, an orchid house and giant waterlilies.
🇧🇷 Curitiba · All yearThe glasshouse and parterres of Curitiba's botanical gardenThe postcard view of Curitiba: a white metal and glass greenhouse above French-style flower beds and fountains.
🇧🇷 São Paulo · All yearThe CEAGESP flower fair in São PauloTwice a week before dawn, a hall of São Paulo's giant wholesale market fills with flowers and plants from across the state.
🇧🇷 Brasília · Jun to SepThe ipê trees of Brasília in the dry seasonIn the dry months, leafless ipê trees across Brasília flower in turn: pink and purple, then yellow, then white.
🇧🇷 Holambra · Aug to SepHolambra, Brazil's flower town, and its ExpofloraA small town founded by Dutch settlers that grows a large share of Brazil's flowers and holds a big flower fair each spring.Cities and regions of Brazil
AmaranthAmaranthus
A tall, colourful plant grown for its flowers, leaves and edible seeds
🇲🇽 Mexico and 7 more · Wildflower
Sensitive PlantMimosa pudica
A touch-sensitive plant whose leaves fold up when disturbed
🇧🇷 Brazil and 8 more · Wildflower
Arabian coffeeCoffea arabica
The white-flowered shrub whose beans make most of the world’s coffee
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 4 more · Wildflower
LantanaLantana camara
A colourful shrub with clusters of small, changing flowers
🇧🇷 Brazil and 9 more · Flowering shrub
Black-eyed Susan vineThunbergia alata
A fast-growing climbing plant with bright flowers and a dark centre
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Garden flower
Cleome houtteana
Tall annual with pink, purple, or white flowers and long, whisker-like stamens
🇦🇷 Argentina and 5 more · Garden flower
Ixora
Tropical evergreen shrubs with clusters of small, bright flowers
🇮🇳 India and 4 more · Garden flower
Yellow oleanderCascabela thevetia
A tropical shrub with funnel-shaped yellow flowers and toxic seeds
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 more · Flowering shrub
Common GorseUlex europaeus
A tough, spiny yellow-flowered shrub of Western Europe
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 6 more · Flowering shrub
Cockspur Coral TreeErythrina crista-galli
A red-flowered tree, national symbol of Argentina and Uruguay
🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 more · Flowering tree
Purple glory treePleroma granulosum
A tropical tree with purple flowers from Brazil and Bolivia
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 more · Flowering tree
Miltonia
Medium-large Brazilian orchids with showy, long-lasting flowers
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 more · Orchid
Scarlet sageSalvia splendens
A bright bedding plant with spikes of red, white, or purple flowers
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 more · Garden flower
Rose mossPortulaca grandiflora
A low, colourful succulent with bright flowers for sunny gardens and containers
🇧🇷 Brazil and 3 more · Garden flower
Royal poincianaDelonix regia
A tropical tree with bright red-orange flowers and fern-like leaves
🇲🇬 Madagascar and 8 more · Flowering tree
Purpletop vervainVerbena bonariensis
A tall South American perennial with clusters of purple flowers
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Calathea
Tropical houseplant with striking patterned leaves and folding foliage
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 more · Wildflower
Cattleya purpurata
A Brazilian orchid with large, fragrant flowers in many color forms
🇧🇷 Brazil · Orchid
Pleroma urvilleanum
A Brazilian shrub with large purple flowers and black stamens
🇧🇷 Brazil · Flowering shrub
Senna spectabilis
A fast-growing tree with bright yellow summer flowers, native to South America
🇧🇷 Brazil and 7 more · Flowering tree
Indian shotCanna indica
A tall tropical plant with red or yellow flowers and starchy rhizomes
🇨🇴 Colombia and 8 more · Wildflower
Angel's-tearsBrugmansia suaveolens
A night-fragrant trumpet flower from Brazil, now grown worldwide
🇧🇷 Brazil and 3 more · Flowering shrub
Nematanthus
A trailing Brazilian plant with pouch-shaped flowers that resemble goldfish
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 more · Garden flower
Silver cock's combCelosia argentea
A tropical annual with feathery, vivid flower spikes
🇨🇳 China and 4 more · Garden flower
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Royal poinciana: Averette, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rose moss: Laogooli, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Arabian coffee: Marcelo Corrêa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cockspur Coral Tree: Pablo Bombín, CC0, source
- Black-eyed Susan vine: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sensitive Plant: Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Amaranth: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden: tsc_traveler [2], CC BY 2.0, source
- Botanical Garden of Curitiba: SamirNosteb, CC BY-SA 2.5 br, source
- Lantana: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pleroma urvilleanum: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cleome houtteana: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Ixora: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Yellow oleander: Anshik Kumar Tiwari, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Common Gorse: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, source
- Purple glory tree: Mauroguanandi, Public domain, source
- Miltonia: Dalton Holland Baptista, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scarlet sage: Lucky7879613459, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Purpletop vervain: frank wouters, CC BY 2.0, source
- Calathea: Serenity, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cattleya purpurata: Arne and Bent Larsen, Haarby, Denmark, CC BY-SA 2.5 dk, source
- Senna spectabilis: Leandro R. M. de Marco, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Indian shot: No machine-readable author provided. B.navez assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Angel's-tears: Kolforn ( Kolforn ) I'd appreciate if you could mail me (Kolforn@gmail, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nematanthus: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Silver cock's comb: Quadell ( talk ) ( Uploads ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Expoflora Holambra: Allice Hunter, CC BY-SA 4.0, source