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The Plant Wizard

Over 5 years ago, José Hypólito Piva adopted hundreds of daughters. That's because he cares for his 250 plant species like a true father.

Do you know that father-to-daughter care? Know that she doesn't like onions, that she hates waking up early, that she loves the beak of French bread? Because it is these fatherly efforts that the botanist José Hypólito Piva reserves for the approximately 250 species cultivated in the Seedling Nursery of the São Pedro Settlement. 600,000 seedlings leave there every year to supply the environmental programs of the Teles Pires Hydroelectric Power Plant and to provide for the recovery programs for springs and demonstration units of the São Pedro Settlement Revitalization Project (PRASP). In addition, the nursery donates seedlings for reforestation projects in municipalities such as Paranaíta and Alta Floresta, both in Mato Grosso.
More than a profound connoisseur of the Amazonian flora - he has published several works on the subject - Piva is passionate about the region's species, and he feels happy like a forest when he enters the forest to visit his “daughters” and collect new specimens for the nursery. “We have here species that can survive three or four months in the water, such as Genipa spruceana (a type of jenipapa), and others that endure extreme drought, such as the Pau-Viola,” he describes, while strolling through the flowerbeds of the huge nursery.

Piva is one of those responsible for the flora monitoring program at the Teles Pires HPP and has been monitoring the species in the plant's area of influence for over five years. Some, such as chestnut trees and mahogany, are on the endangered list. “Within the area covered by the Teles Pires HPP monitoring program, we only have one mahogany tree. And in the region, we have no more than 15 copies. That's why we produce mahogany seedlings here to repopulate the region. It's a fundamental job”.
And Piva goes through the flowerbeds, under the care of her father. Everyone knows about the Cuiabano pine tree, it can be said that it is a plateau plant, from a dry area, with seeds considered orthodox, with a nice and fragrant yellow flower, and that it can reach up to 40 meters in height. The aforementioned genipa spruceana is closely related to Genipa Americana, which, unlike spruceana, whose fruit is unusable, produces fruits capable of generating admirable juices and liqueurs. But it is the mahogany seedlings that deserve the most attention from the plant wizard - the species can reach more than 50 meters in height and almost six meters in circumference.