Field trip in Brazil – Searching for Agalinis and Esterhazya species, Part II
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Dr. Latvis joined Leo and me for the second part of the trip! Our first stop was Serra do Cipó National Park, where we found Esterhazya nanuzae and Agalinis brachyphylla. We also admired a waterfall where Maribeth had collected A. angustifolia more than ten years ago, but unfortunately, we did not find the population this time (at least not flowering). We then continued north through Minas Gerais, visiting Sempre-Vivas National Park, where we had the amazing help of Norton, who drove us through some challenging roads and helped us search for plants. After a major thunderstorm, we successfully found our first population of A. angustifolia! We also explored the city of Diamantina, known for its beautiful architecture and very steep, narrow streets. Before leaving Diamantina for our next stop, we explored the surrounding region and found more A. brachyphylla and A. angustifolia populations.
We continued our fieldwork by hiking two of the highest peaks in Brazil, both home to rare and endemic Agalinis species. Our first stop was Pico do Itambé, standing at 2,052 m in elevation (#30 in Brazil), where the rare A. itambensis can be found. From there, we drove to the border of Espírito Santo to reach Pico da Bandeira, the third-highest peak in Brazil at 2,891 m, which is home to another rare species, A. bandeirensis. Of course, no fieldwork is complete without a flat tire, and we got our share of that! After a quick fix, we continued driving south, where we met Tulio, an old friend of Maribeth from her PhD fieldwork days in Brazil. Our final stop was Itatiaia National Park, where we found Esterhazya eitenorum. It was a very successful field trip, the size of our plant press does not lie! Cheers to that!!!! I cannot thank everyone enough who helped us along the way. A special thanks to the BHCB herbarium staff for their support with our vouchers, the National Park staff for helping with permits, and the hotel staff who helped us with the flat tire—ahaha!
