Found
in
the
eastern
third
of
Chaco
and
Formosa
provinces
and
the
northeast
of
Santa
Fé
is
what
is
described
as
wet
chaco
habitat.
It
consists
of
small
remnant
patches
of
gallery
forest
(not
unlike
the
Paraná
forest),
growing
by
rivers
and
ox-bow
lakes;
savannah
grasslands
studded
with
caranday
palms
and
"islands"
of
mixed
scrub
woodland
(
isletas
de
monte
);
and
wetland
environments
similar
to
those
of
the
Mesopotamian
grasslands.
The
key
tree
species
is
the
quebracho
colorado
chaqueño
,
one
of
Argentina's
four
quebracho
species,
whose
name
means
axe-breaker
in
Spanish,
though
it
has
always
been
valued
more
for
its
tannin
than
for
its
hard
wood.
It
can
reach
heights
of
24m,
and
the
most
venerable
specimens
can
be
anything
from
300
to
500
years
old.
Other
common
tree
species
are
the
urunday;
timbó
colorado;
lapacho
negro
;
and
the
intriguing
crown
of
thorns
tree
(
espina
corona
),
with
clumps
of
dramatic
spikes
jutting
out
from
its
trunk.
On
the
savannahs,
the
graceful
caranday
palms
grow
alone
or
in
small
groups
(
palmares
)
and
reach
heights
of
up
to
15m.
They
are
extremely
resilient,
surviving
both
periodic
flooding
and
the
regular
burning
of
the
grasslands
in
order
to
stimulate
the
growth
of
new
shoots
for
cattle
pasture:
whereas
most
shrubs
perish
in
the
flames,
the
caranday
seems
to
flourish.
The
wetland
swamps
are
often
choked
with
rafts
of
camalote
, a
waterlily
with
a
seductive
lilac
flower;
or
the
large
discs,
some
more
than
a
metre
in
diameter,
of
another
distinctive
waterlily,
the
flor
de
Irupé
,
whose
name
comes
from
the
Guaraní
word
for
"plate
on
the
water".
Pirí
,
looking
rather
like
papyrus
horsetail,
and
pehuajó
,
with
leaves
like
a
banana
palm,
form
large
reed
beds
where
the
water
is
less
deep.
