Lapacho

The Lapacho is a large tropical tree, the height of which can easily reach 40 meters. This tree from South America is part of the Bignoniaceae family. It grows naturally up to 4000 meters above sea level in tropical regions, especially on the plateaus of the Andes Cordillera. It is also found in the Amazon forest. The Lapacho is recognizable by its green trunk and smooth bark. The leaves of this tree are deciduous and generally finely serrated. After the leaves fall, the Lapacho shows trumpet flowers whose tubular corollas are purple to red. The fruits of this sacred tree of the Incas are cylindrical capsules about 40 cm long. The harvest of Lapacho bark is a genuine ancestral know-how. Among other parameters, one must consider the orientation of the trunk in relation to the sun and the time of day.