QUICK FACT: This host tree is called “tapir’s bark” because tapirs rub the trunk and occasionally bite it, attracted by the bark’s medicinal properties.

THREATS: Climate change plus fire, grazing, invasive species, and land-use change are shrinking cloud forests where it grows.

IMPORTANCE: It is a wood-decayer that helps recycle nutrients in rare Brazilian cloud forest habitats.

Photo credit: Genivaldo Alves-Silva

QUICK FACT: This host tree is called “tapir’s bark” because tapirs rub the trunk and occasionally bite it, attracted by the bark’s medicinal properties.

THREATS: Climate change plus fire, grazing, invasive species, and land-use change are shrinking cloud forests where it grows.

IMPORTANCE: It is a wood-decayer that helps recycle nutrients in rare Brazilian cloud forest habitats.

Photo credit: Genivaldo Alves-Silva