What is the common name of the tallest known tree in the Amazon rainforest?

The common name of the tallest known tree in the Amazon rainforest is angelim vermelho.

Angelim vermelho is the Portuguese name commonly associated with Dinizia excelsa, a giant emergent tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. The name translates roughly as “red angelim,” referring to the reddish-brown heartwood. The species is also called angelim, angelim pedra, and paricá in different areas.

A record-setting Dinizia excelsa was identified in Brazil’s Paru State Forest using airborne laser scanning and later verified on the ground. The tree stands more than 80 metres tall, making it one of the tallest broad-leaved trees known in the Americas. Researchers estimate that the individual may be around 400 years old.

These trees grow in non-flooded terra firme forests of the Amazon and develop huge buttressed trunks to support their height. Their large woody seed pods contain wind-dispersed seeds, which may later be moved by rodents and eaten by macaws. “Angelim vermelho” refers to the tree’s common name, while Dinizia excelsa is its scientific name—a distinction quizzes often test.