A giant tree towering above the canopy of the Iratapuru River Nature Reserve in northern Brazil,
Scientists say the tree, known scientifically as Dinizia excelsa, is the largest ever discovered in the Amazon.
Researchers first spotted it on satellite imagery in 2019 as part of a 3D mapping project. Later that year, a group of scientists, environmentalists and local guides tried to get there.
But after 10 days of marching through difficult terrain, exhausted, short of supplies, and with a sick team member, they had to turn back.
Three more expeditions to a remote regionof the Yari Valley Reserve, which lies on the border between the states of Amapa and Para, several other giant trees have reached, including the tallest Brazil nut ever recorded in the Amazon. Its height was 66 meters.
However, Angelim vermelho remainedout of reach until the expedition from September 12 to 25, when researchers traveled 250 km by boat up rivers with treacherous rapids and then walked 20 km through mountainous jungle terrain to reach it.
During the expedition, one person from the expedition from19 people were bitten by a poisonous spider. But forest guide Diego Armando Silva, who helped organize the trip, said it was worth it. “It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Simply divine,” he emphasized in an interview with ABC News.
After spending the night under a tree, the group collected leaves,soil and other samples that scientists will analyze to determine the tree's age. Silva estimates it to be between 400 and 600 years old. Experts will also try to understand why there are so many giant trees in the region and how much carbon they store.
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On the cover: General Sherman tree, Jim Bahn, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons