Botanists are far from the end all be all of plant existence and identification. Botanists outdated information has been corrected plenty of times by the rare fruit community.
Worldwide people eat crap processed foods and don’t know the endemic edible fruits and plants in their back yard. This is a worldwide confusion of the masses.
So yes of course 90% + of humans only know what is under there noses and would only be interested in buying supermarket fruits to plant.
What I am saying is that there is a small percentage worldwide of humans that are interested in their native flora and fauna and they know about, are growing , or “discovered” the rare fruit that whomever outsider , non native fruit hunter claims to have “ discovered” and chosen to name.
Of course 95% of the population is amazed that fruit is right down the way in the forest, they are entrenched in a non natural empirical babylon shytstem that looks at that same resource as charcoal or grazing land.
While I think it is fantastic to bring these genetics to the people , one of the most important missions on the planet! Thank you Sellami.
I do not believe in most cases you or any other fruit hunter flying in from afar , is putting eyes on and “discovering” a fruit that has been long lost to humans.
Locals will always have the advantage of knowing the area much better than you and your relying on them , so I do find it practically impossible to feel like you need to take credit for discovering the species. Isn’t getting the species out there and making the money enough? Why the need to self aggrandize and lay claim to a species discovery? Is this my assumption and misinterpretation?
99% plus of people in California have no idea you can eat the native thimbleberry’s, native cherry, manzanita berry’s, huckleberries, pine pollen, seaweed or the lemons and limes growing in their front yards for that matter. People are fucking disconnected worldwide and are trained that food comes from the grocery store.
It is always very hard to believe that none of these fruits are in cultivation by locals in their endemic zone.
I understand the rate of deforestation and in some cases a very small native zone to search for a fruit locals only remember from childhood. There are some great works being done to spread these species far and wide in the hopes to further increase distribution and understanding.
I don’t think it’s possible to out local the locals anywhere in the world. When you know the forests or streets for your life , you know it much better than anyone visiting.
How can visitors be the one to find and “bring into cultivation for the first time” a food source that has been in the neighborhood for hundreds and thousands of years? I don’t know how that’s possible.
I think it’s maybe being brought to english speaking collectors for the first time.
Something portugese speaking locals may care little about .
One thing is very clear is Brazil does not make it easy for these genetics to leave the country.
what about all the new species that even botanists aren't able to identify ? have you been fruit hunting ? did you talk to natives ? have you seen natives impressed of seeing a fruit collected in their region while they know nothing about it ? have you seen nurseries in Brazil selling Bananas, avocados , mangoes , orange trees as native fruiting plants ? most of people in Bahia know Annona squamosa! while very small number of people are aware of fruits like Annona salzmannii , not talking about other more rare fruits !! it's easy to talk about how things should be in theory ! I wish people can go through the practical part before they make their assumptions/ conclusions