Top 5 Flower and Plants in the Amazon Rainforest

- August 13, 2021

I feel like that in most wildlife blogs, animals get all the attention while plants and flowers aren't even considered. Yet, the flora in an ecosystem is vital to the whole plant.

Planet. I meant planet.

An ecosystem, and the whole earth really, is really like a complex living clockwork mechanism where each part is needed for the whole thing to work. Ok, that wasn't as good as the kaleidoscope simile in my other post, but the point is that the fauna of the world isn't the only livings things that need attention and conservation. Plants and flowers are important too; they practically form the structural basis of the world.

In the Amazon Rainforest, there are apparently over 80,000 plant species doing their part to keep the cycle of life going. (The clockwork simile is making more sense now, right?) I say 'apparently' not because of any doubt towards the plants handling their jobs, but because I can hardly believe that there are 80,000 species of anything in the 7 million sq km that is the Amazon Rainforest. And yet, the world proves me wrong (like I prove my parents wrong when they say I need the $3000 SAT tutoring package from Princeton Review to do well on the SAT. Guess whose score has two fives and costed zero dollars?**)

Anyways, here's five cool flowers and plants in the Amazon Rainforest that I want to share today.

1. The Coffee Plant (from the family Coffea)

Our beloved coffee beans come from the red berries of this plant. But before the red berries appear on the Coffee plant, fragrant white flowers attract insects for pollination before falling off and allowing the berries to take their place on the plant, or tree you might say. Coffee Plants in the Amazon Rainforest can grow up to 30 feet tall, which seems skyscraper-esque where I live. But in the Amazon, trees can reach heights of more than 100 feet. This is good news for the Coffee Plant as it needs shade to thrive, and it's why the Amazon Rainforest is the perfect place for Coffee Plants to grow.

2. The Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis)

One of the most valuable trees to the Amazon community, the Rubber Tree is prized for the latex it produces as its sap. Rubber Trees are able to produce latex at around six years of age. These trees can live for more than a century and reach heights of up to 130 feet.

Because of their height, the Rubber Tree is quick to claim space in the Amazon's canopy when available. They're most commonly found in moist forests and wetlands at low altitudes.

Rubber trees also produce fruit and flowers like other tree species; in fact, it's actually part of the same family as figs. These fruits are small, typically inedible, and 'explode' when they're ripe, launching themselves off the tree as far as 30 feet. Watch out for Rubber Tree fruits; they can be dangerous, just like the animals in the previous post.

3. The Monkey Brush Vine (Combretum rotundifolium)

Don't let the Monkey Brush Vine's bright flame of a flower fool you; this plant is actually parasitic and thrives by sucking out the nutrients of other plants. Attractive, but deadly. Like a vampire. Just kidding. But you see the similarities here, right?

The Monkey Brush Vine grows up to 18 feet long and grows on other plants and trees. Which can be a good thing because it attracts pollinators like hummingbirds with the flowers that grow along the vine. This plant also attracts other creatures, like Green Iguanas. The Monkey Brush Vine is a favored resting spot for these iguanas, and they can often be seen near it.

4. The Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra)

This giant tree takes its place as king of the canopy as it grows about 13 feet per year, making it to a height of 200 feet within its lifetime. The Kapok Tree has a diameter of 9-10 feet, allowing for lots of creatures to find homes in the nooks and crannies among its trunk.

Animals from birds to snakes to anteaters can live in a Kapok Tree. It's the actual tree of life is probably the inspiration for the Disney version of it. The Kapok Tree's pink and white flowers attract more species, pollinators like bats, which transport the tree's pollen throughout the rainforest.

5. The Orchid (Orchidaceae)

There are over 20,000 species of Orchid living in the Amazono Rainforest. These beautiful flowers come in all sorts of shapes and colors and sizes; no two species look alike. Oftentimes, Orchids don't even seem to be from the same family, although almost all Orchids have six petals. Three on the outside, and three on the inside.

In addition, many types of Orchids have a symbiotic relationship with fungi at some point during their life. The fungi grow inside the Orchid roots to help the Orchid absorb minerals and water from the soil. During photosynthesis, the Orchid provides the fungi with nutrients produced from the process, making this a mutualism relationship.