The Barriguda: the Tree with a Belly
A tree that looks like a bottle: how the barriguda stores water and survives the dry season.
A tree like a bottle
Barriguda means roughly “the one with the belly” in Portuguese – and that’s exactly what these trees look like: the trunk swells out in the middle, often like a bottle or a vase, topped by a comparatively narrow crown.
In Brazil the name covers several species, mainly from the genus Ceiba – relatives of the kapok tree – and Cavanillesia arborea. They grow in the dry landscapes of the interior, in the Caatinga and in parts of the Cerrado.
Water storage in the trunk
The fat belly is no accident: the tree stores water in its soft, spongy wood to get through the long dry season. During that time it usually sheds its leaves too, saving moisture. Some species carry spines on the trunk that protect young trees from animals.
Flowers and floss
Many barrigudas flower in the dry season, when the trees are bare – the blossoms then stand out from far away. Later a white, cotton-like fibre, the paina, bursts from the fruit and carries the seeds away on the wind. It used to be used to stuff pillows and mattresses.
Photography
With their silhouette, barrigudas make a rewarding subject – especially against the light, bare in front of a deep blue sky or in the evening light over the Cerrado.