PLANTS WE DO NOT LACK

The Rola-Moça Mountains State Park is at the junction of two very important biomes: Cerrado and Atlantic Forest, both with high species diversity. This gives this region great importance in terms of biodiversity conservation, making this park a strategic protected area.

ATLANTIC FOREST

Our Atlantic Forest here is the Seasonal Forest, whose appearance varies between the seasons of the year: in the dry season the trees lose part of their leaves and in the rains they are renewed. It occurs in the most humid places with the deepest soil, such as around springs and stream valleys.

Some species from the forested areas of the Park are: peroba, copaíba, canjerana, jequitibá, sangra-d´água, camboatá, canela-amarela and jacaré.

CERRADO

The Cerrado, a savanna like ecosystem in Brazil, presents itself in several ways. The typical Cerrado is formed by many species of low, crooked and twisted trees, with thick bark and rigid leaves linked to shrubs and herbs. Some trees are: pequizeiro, pau-de-tucano, pau-terra, murici, barbatimão, caviúna-do-cerrado, pinha or marolo, carne-de-vaca, douradinha, guabiroba, lixeira and candeia. Towards the top of the slopes, tree and shrub species are becoming scarcer and the Cerrado is then gradually replaced by Campo Cerrado (Cerrado field) and then by Campo Sujo de Cerrado, a carpet of grasses from which shrubs and small trees stand out.

RUPESTRAL FIELDS

The Rupestrial Fields are located where there are many outcrops of rock: on the Canga (iron), the Ferrouginous Field; and on Quartzite, the Quartzitic Field. The first is the most frequent; whereas the Rupestrian Fields on Quartzite are restricted to two small areas in the southern portion of the park. In the Rupestrian Fields, the vegetation grows on the rocks or on the soil accumulated in the cracks and crevices between them. There are cactus, arnica, candeia, orchids, canela-de-ema, grasses, macela, and many other species of herbaceous plants.