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Scientific name: Lophantera lactescens
Popular names: Golden rain, Amazon golden rain, Amazonian lofantera
Family: Malpighiaceae
Category: Trees, Ornamental Trees
Climate: Equatorial, Subtropical, Tropical
Origin: South America, Brazil
Height: 9.0 to 12 meters, above 12 meters
Brightness: Full sun

The lofantera is a very lush tree with its clusters of flowers hanging down. Originally from the Amazon rainforest, it is semi-deciduous and can reach 10 to 20 meters in height.
The leaves are dark green in color, large, opposite, simple, and with well-marked veins.
Its flowers are yellow and gather in long pendular inflorescences. The fruits are of the capsule type. It blooms from March to August.
It has great landscaping use, due to its spectacular appearance when flowering. It presents moderate growth and is suitable for isolated planting or in groups, beautifying parks and gardens, as well as in the recovery of degraded areas, mainly close to rivers and lakes. Its wood is medium hard, orange and compact and is used locally in civil construction, joinery and carpentry.

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On my last visit to BioPark of Rio (actually the zoo in its new structure) I managed to spend a longer time in my favorite area, the space where macaws, parrots and parakeets (among other species) fly freely around and above our heads.

Some are so used to humans roaming their area that they like to get closer. It was the case of this Parrot that posed insistently for my camera, or the Blue Macaw that scared me with its scream and enormous wingspan, posing beside me when I was photographing the ducks in the small pond..

Once again photos of the True Parrot, in close-up and a little further away, pretending not to notice that I am enchanted with its colors.

On Explore: May 3, 2023

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My other curious friend at BioPark of Rio. ;))

Also known as yellow-bellied macaw, blue macaw (Amazon), canindé, yellow macaw, ara-arauna. It is one of the smartest parrots.
Its scientific name means: do (Tupi) ara = Tupi indigenous name to designate several parrot species; and of (Tupi) ara = parrot; and una = black, dark. ⇒ Dark parrot.

It measures about 80 cm in length. Large and long-tailed. Unmistakable and showy ultramarine blue coloration on the back, and golden yellow on the underside from the face, belly to the tail, throat with black line and bare area on the head with line of black feathers. Juveniles have grayish-brown wings and tail and brown eyes.

Migrates at certain times of the year in search of food. It travels great distances during the day, between resting and feeding places. It feeds basically on seeds, fruits and nuts.

They nest between December and May in holes in the trunk of large dead palm trees, between 10 and 25 meters high, laying 2 eggs, which are incubated for 24-26 days.

It is locally common in the canopy of forests, floodplains with palm trees, interior and edges of tall forests, at about 500 m altitude. It lives in pairs or in groups of 3 individuals, a combination also maintained when forming larger flocks of up to 30 individuals. It is currently one of the most notable large parrots in the urban environment, a phenomenon known as “urban macaws”.

Geographic distribution
From the Amazon to Paraná, and in the past it reached Santa Catarina. Also found in eastern Panama and northern Colombia, Venezuela, Guianas, Peru, Bolivia, as far north as Argentina and Paraguay and western Ecuador.

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