Qualea parviflora, known as pau-terra in Portuguese, is a deciduous tree indigenous to Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.[2] The tree favors dry climates like the tropical savanna of the cerrado.[3][4][5]
Qualea parviflora grows up to 8 m (26 ft) tall. It flowers between September and December. Each flower as one light purple petal, a single stamen, a spurred calyx, and a three-parted ovary. Pau-terra can be distinguished from a close relative Qualea multiflora by its smaller flowers.[6]
Illustration from Karl Friedrich Philipp von Martius's Nova genera et species plantarum
The flowers are pollinated by bees.[6] The seeds are eaten by buprestid beetles and small Hymenoptera species.[6] Caterpillars of the dalcerid moth Dalcera abrasa feed on Quaela parviflora.[7]
Qualea parviflora, known as pau-terra in Portuguese, is a deciduous tree indigenous to Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. The tree favors dry climates like the tropical savanna of the cerrado.
