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Clarisia biflora    Family: Moraceae     Kichwa: Sacha Paparawa   Spanish: (Iquitos) Capiniura de Altura

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The Kichwa word sacha” means “wild”.  “Paparahua” refers to breadfruit, a non-native cultivar in the same Moraceae family.  Hence the name “sacha Paparahua” means “wild breadfruit.”   Although the native “wild breadfruit” is smaller than the cultivar it is also edible and widely consumed by both humans and animals.  The practice of naming wild fruits and animals as a “sacha” or wild counterpart of a cultivar or domestic animal is part of a broader Amazonian/Andean  tradition.

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Photo Tod D. Swanson, Río Nushino, Gomataon Ridgetop 9/2019.   Collected by William Balée, Tod Swanson, and Gabriela Zurita, "Historical Ecology of Waorani Ridgetops" project funded by National Geographic.

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