Picture showing the multiples species of plants found
in a tropical rainforest

The flowers that appear in October are yellow and its size is slightly less than a ping pong ball. This flower only allows the orchid bees to pollinate them. These bees not only collect the fragrance from the Brazil nut flowers but also the orchids that grow on the trunk and branches of the tree. It takes 14 months for the pods to develop and mature. However, many do not reach to this stage. The unripe fruit is often eaten by the blue and gold macaws.

After reaching maturity, the pods no need to protect itself from falling prey to animals of the forest floor. To do this, it has developed a hard, brown shell that protects the nut inside from its predator. However, there are animals are skilled enough to crack open the nuts. One of them is the agouti. The agouti depends on these nuts as their main source of food, which is rich in protein and oil. Nut farmers who live in the rainforest collect these nuts and sell them off to the market. Organizations such as Conservation International help to sell these nuts, creating jobs and money for the locals. This is aimed at discouraging the locals from cutting down trees to get a source of income.