I knew the Candombá while I was taking a trail in Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. The guide explained us its amazing blossom: the Candombá is a plant which needs fire to generate its flower, and this fire is “manufactured” by itself, producing an inflammable resin which, under the burning sun, initiates a combustion very easily, generating the heat that the plant needs for blooming.
The flowers were already withered, but the plant was preparing itself for a new flowering, as you can see in detail in the next photo.
The resin dripping down, shiny, on the leaves of the plant.
Still today the plant is used by the local residents to light bonfires and ovens. In the past, it was a kind of flashlight for people walking among the small villages at night.
Photo credit: http://pictaram.org
*Photo credit: http://imgrum.org
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