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Ulf Mehlig

I'm from #Germany but work as a #botany lecturer at the Federal University of Pará (#UFPA) in #BragançaPA, #Brazil. I'm also curator of the local #herbarium (#HBRA).

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May 9, 1921 Sophie Scholl born in Germany. Scholl became an anti-fascist activist, helping form the peaceful White Rose resistance group, arrested after being caught distributing leaflets at the University of Munich, executed by the Nazis February 22, 1943.

#OtD #history #resistance @histodons

photo, greyscale, Sophie Scholl in 1942, young woman, shoulderlong brown hair, looking left, thoughtful serious expression, wearing woolen jacket, daisy stuck on the front of her jacket

During the City Nature Challenge last weekend we organised bike field trips here in the coastal Amazon region with our students. One of them photographed a native gymnosperm, a species of Gnetum. These are frequently not recognized as such — at first glance, they look like any angiosperm liana, especially in sterile conditions. However, the swollen nodes of the seed-bearing strobili give them away when examining more closely.
#CityNatureChallenge #Gnetaceae #Gymnosperms #Amazonas #iNaturalist

Gnetum seeds and leaves. The colour of the large, oval seeds is dark red; they are produced on strobili with swollen nodes. The simple leaves are opposite and resemble "normal" angiosperm leaves

Closeup of Gnetum seeds in the hand of the photographer

What I enjoy especially about the City Nature Challenge is the opportunity to have a closer look at the living beings that are not on my "normal" to-do list. However, I definitely can do without those mosquito bites ...

#iNaturalist #CityNatureChallenge #Aedes #Ipomoea #Concolvulaceae #Cookeina #BragancaPA #Amazonas

Mosquito (Aedes) with black-wite stripes on body and legs biting between the knuckles of the photographer

White anthers and stigma within the pink flower tube of Ipomoea asarifolia, sprinkled with water droplets

cup-shaped fruiting bodies of the fungus Cookeina (according to iNaturalist AI)

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On my trip to Athens, I think I found both Ophrys zeusii (the black one) and Ophrys herae (the red one) 😄

#wildorchids @wildorchids #inaturalist #BloomScrolling #wildflowers

Ophrys herae, with the Akropolis in the background

Many climbing Aroids can be easily taken into cultivation by making a stem cutting. We do that sometimes when finding sterile specimens during floristic surveys, and make herbarium vouchers later when the inflorescences appear. However, one has to be patient ... This Syngonium from the inundated forest along the Caeté river in the coastal Amazon region was collected in 2018 and started flowering now.
#BragancaPA #herbarium #HBRA #Amazonas #Araceae #Syngonium #floodedForest

The spadix (inflorescence) of Syngonium sp. with three different types of sessile flowers: yellowish pistillate (female) flowers on the lower portion, then white sterile and fertile staminate (male) flowers. The lower, sheathing part of the spathe is held open by the fingers of the photographer

The inflorescence (spadix) of Syngonium sp., the lower portion being covered by a whitish-green sheathing bract (spathe). The upper part of the spathe has opened and the white spadix is visible

Syngonium sp., an aroid climber, on spiny palm stems (Astrocaryum). The compound, trifoliolate leaves have long petioles

In little more than a week starts the 10th City Nature Challenge (https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/). Bragança here in the coastal zone of the Amazon region will participate for the first time ... Teachers of the local schools are collaborating, starting to train their students to use the iNaturalist app. I hope we can kindle some enthusiasm about observing nature!

#iNaturalist #CityNatureChallenge #BragancaPA #Amazonas #CitizenScience

picture of the head and first couple of body segments of a millipede on a moss-covered tree trunk

Detail of two branches of a grass inflorescence

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Nearly all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in the past year was illegal, a new report finds.

Between August 2023 and July 2024, 91% of forest clearing in the Amazon lacked authorization, according to an analysis by the NGO Center of Life Institute (ICV). In the Cerrado, an expanding agricultural frontier and the world’s most biodiverse tropical savanna that covers a quarter of Brazil, the figure for unauthorized clearing was 51%.

By Shanna Hanbury
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/03/91-of-brazilian-amazon-deforestation-last-year-was-illegal-report-finds/

#News #Forests

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This is pretty incredible. In the bowels of the UT Insect Collection we’ve found some Chagas bugs collected and identified by Carlos Chagas himself!

#Entomology #Reduviidae #ChagasDisease

Photograph of a small white tray filled with pinned dried assassin bugs, and typed labels on yellowed paper. One handwritten label reads “Locality: Brazil, Collected by: Dr. Carlos Chagas”

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"Drop in Amazon deforestation confirmed, but degradation soars 497% in 2024"

#Amazon #Deforestation #Trees #Environment

https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/01/drop-in-amazon-deforestation-confirmed-but-degradation-soars-497-in-2024/

This morning, we visited an area within the city of Bragança-Pará in the coastal Amazon region that hopefully is going to be a park and an urban environmental protection area some day. A fragment of forest and a larger area of completely degraded vegetation. Main goal of the trip: introduce staff of the district's environmental department to the iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org) app. This Turnera was maybe not the ideal example, as it was crawling with angry ants ...
#Amazonas #iNaturalist

corola of Turnera subulata: five pale yellow petals with purplish-brown base and the dark yellow bundles of stamens in the center; in the background, a few green leaves and the hand of the photographer

flower of Turnera subulata, lateral view: green-yellow, acute sepals with partly reddish veins, pale yellow petals among green leaves in the hand of the photographer. On the petals, there are two small ants

After a while, yet another roadside tree often observed in the coastal Amazon region (and elsewhere in Brazil and northern South America in general): Tapirira guianensis Aubl. This is a medium sized tree found in all kinds of environments. Like many Anacardiaceae, it has alternate, odd-pinnate compound leaves. However, it lacks the characteristic strong aromatic odour often observed in this family. In our area, it mostly flowers during the dry season.
#Amazonas #trees #Anacardiaceae #botany

Photo of the lower branches of a Tapirira guianensis inflorescence, densely packed with small yellowish-brown flowers with exserted stamens. To the lower right, parts of a thumb and a finger holding the inflorescence are visible

Photo of a twig of Tapirira guianensis showing the compound, alternate, imparipinnate leaves and the pyramid-shaped, branched inflorescences with tiny yellowish-brown flowers

Photo of medium-sized, flowering Tapirira guianensis trees. The foliage is dark green, the flowers yellowish brown

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#NewSpecies!
Pleroma canastrense
A newly discovered melastomataceae from #brazil!

Treatment: http://treatment.plazi.org/id/67F339E3-92F5-5F0D-8EBE-3C06C080215C
Publication: http://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.247.130040
#PhytoKeys #PleromaCanastrense

#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #ecology #taxonomy #nature #biodiversity #conservation #botany #wildflowers #flowers #wildplants #plants #wildlife #melastomataceae

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Purple donkey orchid (Diuris punctata) still flowering in mid-November on the edge of Croajingolong NP, VIC. Lightly blotched forms are possibly hybrids with Diuris meridionalis ms (blotched donkey orchid) but still haven't sighted this rare species at this location.

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland

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Copper beard orchid (Calochilus campestris) variations north of Mallacoota, VIC. Good numbers of this widespread and variable species out in roadside heathland at the start of November - with a nice range of beard styles on show!

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland

Copper beard orchids flowering near Mallacoota, VIC - spring 2024.

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Still some amazing diversity in the roadside orchid species near Mallacoota, VIC at the start of Nov. with good numbers of beard and onion orchids out, the occasional large duck and the last few spotted sun orchids finishing up. Not bad for a fairly dry spring ...

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland #SunOrchids #Thelymitra

Roadside orchid species near Mallacoota, VIC - spring 2024.

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Caladenia alata (fairy fingers) variations north of Mallacoota, VIC. More typical very small white + pink forms (tip of my little finger here for scale) grow together in heathland at this location with some larger/pinker forms (probably hybrids) also found alongside nearby forest tracks.

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland #Caladenia

Caladenia alata (fairy fingers) north of Mallacoota, VIC - large pink form (possibly a hybrid) - spring orchids 2024.

Caladenia alata (fairy fingers) north of Mallacoota, VIC - typical small white form - spring orchids 2024.

Caladenia alata (fairy fingers) north of Mallacoota, VIC - typical small pink form - tip of little finger for scale - spring orchids 2024.

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Sun orchid variations growing side by side on the edge of Croajingolong NP, VIC. Most of these are Thelymitra ixioides (spotted sun orchids) but in open grassland some pinker forms are maybe approaching the very similar Thelymitra juncifolia.

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland #SunOrchids #Thelymitra

Sun orchid variations growing side by side on the edge of Croajingolong NP, VIC - spring 2024.

Another very common woody roadside plant in the coastal Amazon region is Virola sebifera (nutmeg family). It grows mostly as a shrub due to constant disturbance but may become a medium-sized tree. The genus can often be recognised by its characteristic leaf form with numerous lateral leaf veins which change their angles in the basal portion of the blade. The mature fruits open and expose seeds with a bright red aril, attracting bird dispersers.
#Amazonas #Myristicaceae #roadside #botany

Open fruit of Virola sebifera, showing the bowl-shaped halves of the follicle, with the seed exposed in between. The whitish-brown seed is mostly covered by narrow, bright red bands of aril

Shoot of Virola sebifera with ovoid to oblong alternate leaves with cordate base, about 15-25 cm long. The upper leaf surface shows a dark, dirty green colour; leaves are partly turning yellow or brown due to age. The pinnate veins of the leaves are much lighter; there is a characteristic change of angle in the basal secondary veins, extending horizontally or downward, in contrast to ascending in the distal portion of the leaf blade. Among the leaves, there is an inflorescence with three open fruits showing the seeds with red arils.

Inflorescences of Virola sebifera with brown axes and small brown flowers.

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Spotted sun orchids (Thelymitra ixioides) in open grassland near Genoa, VIC. Flowers on this impressive species are much less temperamental then many other local sun orchids and are often still open well into the afternoon (which is handy for photos!)

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland #SunOrchids #Thelymitra

Spotted sun orchids (Thelymitra ixioides) flowering in open grassland near Genoa, VIC - spring 2024.

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Pink sun orchids (Thelymitra carnea) near the Genoa River, VIC. This beautiful small sun orchid (tip of my little finger here for scale) flowers here alongside both the spotted sun orchid (T. ixioides) plus the occasional hybrid between these two species.

#Orchids #OzPlants #Biodiversity #Ecology #Botany #Photography #Spring #InTheField #Nature #BloomScrolling #EastGippsland #SunOrchids #Thelymitra