SUBCHAPTER 12

MUCUGÊ

13° 00′ 18″ S – 41° 22′ 15″ O

Área 2.482,204 km² [2]

População 9.957 hab. IBGE/2017

460 kms from Salvador, Bahia

I first visited Mucugê on 2003. It was love at first sight!

Mucugê is a precious gem incrusted in the mountains of the Chapada Diamantina at an altitude of 1.000 metres with an amazing landscape and energizing climate. The exuberant flora is highly endemic and adaptive: orchids, cactuses and bromeliads thrive and harmonically share the same space. A feast for the eye!

During the 19th century Mucugê was an important gold and diamond exploration center. The town´s historic architecture is well preserved and the municipality has two economic activities: tourism and agribusiness with highly mechanized farms.

The Cemetery of Santa Isabel or “Byzantine cemetery” is the main attraction. “Implanted in the rocky slope of the Serra do Sincorá, the cemetery began to be built in 1854, during an epidemic that devastated the town, and is distinguished by the set of mausoleums reproducing facades of churches and chapels.” (Wikipedia)

Mucugê Municipal Park

The city is home to the Mucugê Municipal Park (Projeto Sempre Viva) with its area of 270 hectares. The park has several activities, such as:

Research in partnership with the Feira de Santana State University for the reproduction of an endemic species of evergreen (Syngonanthus mucugensis A. Giulietti) which is very threatened with extinction.
Geoprocessing and creation of thematic maps of the whole municipality of Mucugê, the entire National Park and several other localities of the Chapada Diamantina.
environmental education with all schools in the municipality, several private schools in Recife and Salvador, and many public and private schools in neighboring municipalities. Gatherings and identification of plants from the reserve area have already been and are being done. The herbarium of the park now has more than a thousand plants already cataloged and identified. (Wikipedia)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

When exploring the Projeto Sempre Viva I found a small and beautiful bromeliad on the the rocky faces ot the Tiburtino river. I immediately sent photos of the plant to Derek Butcher and other folks but none could identify it. Three years later – that is on 2006 – a group of taxonomists visited the habitat and soon described the bromeliad as Orthophytum mucugense (now Sincoraea mucugensis).

“Orthophytum mucugense, O navioides and O. humile stand out in the group of species with sessile inflorescences, with small rosettes, narrow leaves, reaching ca 4mm wide, and the presence of stolons. Of the three species, O. navioides stands out with the very long stolons and larger leaves, reaching 24cm long, while O. mucugense has triangular-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate blades, reaching to 5cm long. O. humile has linear blades, with about 6cm long densely covered with adpressed scales, in comparison with O. mucugense and O. navioides, whose leaves are glabrescent and sparsely lepidote.

In spite of forming dense populations and occurring in a Conservation park, O. mucugense can be categorized as vulnerable by being known in only one place. Attention needs to be paid to new collection expeditions in different places seeking a better knowledge of its geographical distribution.”

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Oscar – Rio, Dec. 2018

More information:

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucugê

Lista de bens tombados pelo IPHAN

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_de_bens_tombados_pelo_IPHAN#Bahia

http://portal.iphan.gov.br/pagina/detalhes/126

Projeto sempre Viva

http://guiamucuge.com.br/chapada-diamantina/mucuge/projeto-sempre-viva/

https://blogdestinoes.com.br/projeto-sempre-viva/

Midsummer- Saint John’s Day

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festa_junina