The Amazonian Water Lily

Brazil is a lush tropical and sub-tropical country that features extraordinary biodiversity, including a range of stunning and rare blooms. If you’re curious about Brazilian biodiversity, you’ll enjoy learning more about one of Brazil’s most dazzling and inspiring blossoms, the Amazonian Water Lily…

About The Amazonian Water Lily

This lovely flower grows in central Brazil, and it is known for its alluring fragrance, which is redolent of fresh pineapple. This rare example of Brazilian biodiversity features large, pale petals of pure, milky-white, and it may only be found in ponds situated in the Amazon rain forest. However, as of late, the depletion of the rain forest (due to over-forestation and the over-harvesting of other natural resources) has made it more difficult to stumble upon this rare beauty in its natural habitat.

At present, two thousand rare flowers in the rain forest are on extinction lists. The Amazonian Water Lily remains present in the rain forest…but for how long?

A New Brazilian Law May Threaten The Amazonian Water Lily

Many environmental action groups and political lobby groups are working hard to reverse the ravages of centuries of over-harvesting and farming within the Amazonian Rain Forest, by pushing for stricter laws that mandate re-forestation of farmed areas, as well as the complete protection of important regions of the forest, which are the habitats of endangered birds, animals, reptiles, marine life, and stunning, rare flowers.

However, a recent Forest Law that is about to be voted upon in the Brazilian Senate may reverse previous efforts to make farmers and developers wholly responsible for damage done to the rain forest.

The Forest Law eases the responsibilities of farmers and developers, by decreasing the amount of re-planting that they will need to do after harvesting timber and other resources from the rain forest. While the impact of this proposed law is still uncertain, watchdog organizations feel that the new law will only worsen the prospects of survival for many species of plant and animal life in Brazil.

More Examples Of Plant Life Within The Amazon Rain Forest

The Amazon rain forest is the epicenter of Brazilian biodiversity, and it offers many examples of rare plant life, such as the Ecuadorean Rain Forest Flower. This plant produces a compact yellow-and-violet blossom, and it is found in the Ecuadorean section of the Amazon rain forest.

In addition, this area of Brazil features thousands of common plants and fruits, such as Bromeliads (pineapples are the best-known Bromeliads), which hang from trees and sometimes fall to the forest floor due to their heavy weight. These juicy fruits offer sustenance to a variety of Amazon rain forest creatures, as well as humans who harvest bromeliads for their own use, or for commercial purposes.

As you can see, the Brazilian biodiversity of the Amazon Rain Forest is something to celebrate. However, in order to keep the Amazonian Water Lily (and other examples of Brazilian blossoms, flowers and fruit) surviving and thriving, humans must work to minimize their impact on this over-harvested Brazilian region.