FRAU HELLE´S THREE TREES
Autor: MARCELO DE ALMEIDA | Publicado: 2011-08-13T18:54:00-07:00

&nbsp;Frau ‘Helle K. Uhrmacher’ is the good witch of the story- Serendipity´s Matterhorn, since all fairy tales must have both a good and a bad witch. In the story she is an immigrant to Brazil who arrives along side her husband Mr. Uhrmacher, and a gingerbread house. Out in her backyard she has built a stone lined circle where she teaches her apprentice ‘Maria May Braun’ magic spells through the use of special wands. She draws a triangle within the circle in order to explain about the three powerful trees: 
1. The ‘Zauberbaum’, or magic tree- in German, is represented by what ‘Serendipity Van Der Zee’ calls a Sweetplane, and Frau Helle calls an ‘Ahornbaum’. The most common names are Sweetgum and Liquidamber. Now this is a most colorful specimen since it produces star shaped leaves which turn a multitude of colors during the Petrópolis ‘autumn and winter months’. Along with this feature are the ‘spiky’ seed pods called ‘Cukoo birs’, that if stepped on while walking barefoot can be treacherous. But this is no reason to shy away from such a beautiful tree, especially one which makes sweet sap. In the story Serendipity´s sister ‘Ester K. Van Der Zee’ is fond of chewing this sweet substance-like gum, and gives her brother some to try at the base of the ‘Disneyland Matterhorn Bobsleds’ in California. This is the tree chosen for a ‘magic wand’ by both the main character and his lovely girlfriend Maria May in the story. 
When I was a kid these trees grew all around the Disney mountain but were eventually removed for unknown reasons. 
2. The ‘Hexebaum’, or witch tree- in German, is represented by the ‘Mexican cypress’ or Cupressus Lusitanica which was taken to the Iberian peninsula during the colonial period, and then brought to the Brazilian highlands by the Portuguese Crown. It looks so much like a ‘witch’ that many Brazilians consider the tree ‘hexed’. It is truly utilized for stuffing coffins due to the cedar-like scent of both it´s needles and wood. It´s twisted long arms flail in all directions giving it a walking aspect, and it really does try to amble around during the summer rains when it often falls victim to it´s own top heavy structure and shallow root system; many a car and house have been destroyed by these toppling beasts. In Serendipity´s Matterhorn it´s wood is Frau Helle´s choice for a ‘wand’. 
3. Finally we get to the ‘Geistbaum’, which means ghost or spirit tree- in German. It is most popularly known as a Brazilian Monkey Puzzle or Candelabra tree. But it is an a’Araucaria’ and referred to as a pine. In actual fact it is not even a pine at all and is native to the southern hemisphere only. In the fall this tree produces inch long nuts called ‘pinhão’ or pinions. They are roasted over a fire or boiled in the pressure cooker and eaten like chips or fries, with salt, mustard and ketchup; yummy to your tummy! Anyway, it has the strangest form of all since the tree stops growing vertically but not horizontally, as the branches continue expanding outward until the top of the tree is totally flat, like a ‘candelabra’. It grows mostly on the frosty high planes towards the south of the country, however, due to it´s ghostly shape, has been planted all throughout the southeastern mountains of Brazil as well. The Monkey Puzzle would make a great ‘DR. Seuss Christmas tree’ due to the spiky leaves, which can ‘really’ draw blood when touched incorrectly. 
Finding yourself surrounded by these three beautiful trees when a thick fog rolls in can be a memorable experience, and certainly promotes a better understanding of the sensations felt by Serendipity and his friends here in Petrópolis.