area is normally between 45 and 60 inches. with 
occasional snowfall, which does not remain long. in 
some places. Heavy frost may occur between May 
and August. ‘Thirty to forty years ago Parana pine 
forest covered more than 18 million acres in the 
State of Parana. 
had been reduced by intensive exploitation and land 
By 1950 the area of pine forests 
clearing to about 6.8 million acres and by 1955 
further reduced to 6.1 The 3.7 
million acres in Santa Catarina and 1.2 million in 
Rio Grande do Sul bring the total area of Parana 
pine forest available for use to 11 million acres. 
million acres. 
Some pines can also be found in Sao Paulo and 
Minas Gerais. 
The predominant species in the forest is the conifer 
araucaria, generally called Parana pine even though 
not a true pine. The most important broadleaf 
species generally associated with Parana pine is 
imbuia, which makes up as much as 25 percent of 
stand volume. ‘T'wo species of Podocarpus, the only 
other conifers native to Brazil. occur occasionally in 
large numbers. Forest vegetation includes a variety 
of small trees and shrubs, of which the most im- 
portant is maté (Ilex paraguariensis). This small 
tree, from whose leaves a tea is made. grows in the 
forests all over southern Brazil and usually forms a 
dense understory in the Parana pine forest. 
4 
Parand pine attains a height of 80 to 125 feet 
with a long clear bole and a diameter up to 70 or 
80 inches. Stands average 8,000 board feet per 
acre with up to 18,000 board feet on good sites. 
A 1950 survey estimated the volume in saw-log-size 
(16 inches d.b.h. or greater) trees at 42 billion board | 
feet. with 57 percent in the State of Parana, 33 
percent in Santa Catarina, and 10 percent in Rio 
Grande do Sul. Only part of these stands are 
readily accessible at present. 
Palm Forest | 
In northeastern Brazil, the palm forest is a transi-- 
tion type between the Amazon rain forest and the 
drier wooded savanna to the southwest and the 
scrub and brush to the east and southeast. Lying 
in northern Maranhao and Piaui at elevations of less 
than 600 feet, the palm stands, often occurring in’ 
dense groups of 200 to 1,400 stems per acre, are 
dominated by babassu (fig. 16). Subordinate in 
the stands are the carnauba, buriti (Mauritia 
flexuosa), and euterpe (Euterpe oleracea) palms. 
Palms are also found in small groups or seattered 
throughout the Northeast and the lower elevations 
of the Central-West wherever subsurface water is 
abundant during the dry season. Because babassu 
seed yields a commercial oil and carnauba leaves 
‘ 
(Photo by K. Hueck, courtesy IFLA.) 
Figure 16.—Babassu palm, dominant species of the palm forest. 
14 FOREST RESOURCE REPORT 16, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
