Gaby
5
Residents of the Amazon River basin sometimes drink milk, even though they have never seen a cow or milked any other animal. In the Amazon, there are cows… that grow on trees. They are aptly named “cow trees.” Just a small cut in the bark of this tree releases a stream of thick, whitish sap. For a time, this sap was considered poisonous due to its bitter taste. However, botanists have discovered that if you dilute it with water and boil it, the bitter flavor disappears, and the drink becomes perfectly safe for consumption.
Each cow tree (as botanists call it) can yield up to 4 liters of sap in a single “milking,” which closely resembles cow’s milk in its chemical composition.
