Searching for Agalinis and Esterhazya in Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil
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Maribeth and I had the opportunity to go to Brazil again in March 2026 to collect more Agalinis and Esterhazya. Our main goals were to visit local herbaria to sample specimens from areas we were not able to visit (yet), and to expand our sampling northward to the state of Bahia, the northern limit of Esterhazya’s distribution.
We first went to Rio to visit the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (Rb) and Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro (R) herbaria. We had so much fun looking at their collections. We also had the opportunity to see some of the reasons why Rio is called the “Wonderful City/Cidade Maravilhosa”. Even with the weather not on our side, we were still able to see Christ the Redeemer, partial sunsets at the beach, and the city’s beautiful landscape and flora. A special thanks to everyone at the herbaria who welcomed us so kindly!
We continued our field trip by driving thousands of miles through the states of Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Minas Gerais. Our main goal was to collect in Chapada Diamantina. We faced some obstacles and getting to some places was not as easy as we anticipated/expected, but we can say the trip was a success!
This is just a short intro so I can do a photodump of all the cool things we were able to see (pics not in order…sorry).
