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Syngonanthus nitens, known as capim dourado (golden grass), is a grass-like perennial from the cerrado of Jalapão in Tocantins, Brazil. It is valued mainly for its bright golden stems, which are harvested to make woven handicrafts.
Syngonanthus nitens is a grass-like species of Eriocaulaceae which exists in the region of Jalapão, state of Tocantins, Brazil - the region is part of the Brazilian cerrado. Its main characteristic is the bright and gold color, hence their common name "capim dourado", which literally means "golden grass".
The making of handicrafts from S. nitens began in Jalapão, in the Afro-Brazilian community of Mumbuca in the municipality of Mateiros. Indigenous people, probably from the Xerente ethnic group, taught the art to local inhabitants when passing through the region around the 1930s. The handicrafts are made of coils of S. nitens scapes sewn tightly together with strips from the Moriche Palm's (Mauritia flexuosa) young leaves. For decades the handicrafts were only made by women for household uses and/or sporadic selling. Today, there are at least 12 local community associations.
Syngonanthus chrysanthus · Yellow hatpins · Syngonanthus peruvianus · Hatpins
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Syngonanthus nitens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
