Wild flowers and plants


Wild Flowers and Plants seen

It's sometimes difficult to distinguish wild flowers or plants from garden or municipal ones and so some of the ones I have included in this section are probably not truly native but I found them in the wild.  





Prickly Pear opuntia sp.                                                                                                          Seen everywhere in the rocky inland areas especially towards the Red Mountain. The first photo is the more typical fruiting bodies but for the first time I actually found the 2nd example in flower.  

                                   

                                      

Schizogyne sericea 
Again a specialist in the rocky inland areas 

Mock pepper Mastic tree Schinus molle                                                                                    Possibly introduced as a garden tree but now growing wild just outside of Golf Del Sur


Zygophyllum fontanesii                                                                                                              Another rocky area specialist


Tobacco-tree Nicotinia glauca 
Again possibly a garden escapee but not found is several wild areas around the towns 


Launaea arborescen  
This is an odd species with very spiny twigs which branch at odd angles. In my old book is was called Aulaga which is the same family as gorse.

Pennisetum setaceum                                                                                                             Last year this grass was flowering in all the barrancas (river beds) but it must have been a dry autumn because this was the only patch I have found so far. 





Verode or Berode Kleinia neriifolia
Another dry rocky area specialist - it looks like a dead twig and then, as in the top example, sprouts little tufts of leaves and a yellow flower. Sometimes the old flower heads are left as in the 2nd example.




Paris Daisy
This one is very tricky to identify as there are a number of small shrubs with white daisy-like flowers. This example had more leaves and so I could pin it down to this species, although why it's called Paris I have no idea. 




Lampranthus                                                                                                 Found wild and in parks and gardens. I think it is sometimes called the midday flower because it does   only open for a short time when the sun is at it's height.                                                                                                           



Spurge sometimes called candelabra Spurge or Cardon                                             
This fairly young example was growing on rough land near the golf course but the ones in the mountainous areas can be huge. The flower buds were attracting many flies. The second picture was taken on 6th Jan when the buds had developed into these.



Limonium pectinatum
A low growing small coastal plant


Aizoon caneriense of the Aizoaceae family
A low to the ground spreading plant. The reddish buds will open to flowers of yellow sepals but no petals.


Salsola divaricata
Very pretty flowers on this otherwise unremarkable coastal shrub


Plocama pendula
I will find a better photo of this shrub I am sure. It is one of the coffee family. 



Cyperus involucratus umbrella sedge
Found by the reservoir in San Blas reserve ambiental 


Treasure flower Gazania rigens

Id corrected 16/12.  A ground cover plant which was just beginning to flower around the coast at El Medano and now in Golf de Sur as well.


White Heliotrope
Typical thick pale leaves but I hadn't see the white flowering one before. 


Euphorbia aphylla
A very tough small coastal tree


Everything is greening up now - bare patches of ground a week ago are now covered in small seedlings triggered by one large thunderstorm early on the 1st December before I arrived.



Lycium intricatum
A vicious little ankle-high shrub which is now bursting into life  


Fingertree Euphorbia tirucalli

Found on the beach below my apartment - not reported by iRecord experts as being a garden escapee rather than a known wild bush on the island


Euphorbia balsamifera
One of the most common bushes on the rocky volcanic land called malpais. I am waiting for them to flower although be prepared to be disappointed as they're only small yellow flowers but I will show them.


Prickly pear cacti fruit showing seeds                                                                                                       


Cneorum pulverulentum                                                                                                             
Native to the Canary Islands. An evergreen shrub found in the malpais but this is the first time I have seen it flower and every bush is covered in flowers.                                                                                                                                             


Wild Tamarind Tree                                                                                                                    
The buds that you see in the top left of the picture opened to white fluffy balls seen in the 2nd photo and completely at odds with those huge brown seed pods from last year                                                                                     
Fagonia cretica
A tiny spreading coastal plant



Mexican Palo Verde Parkinsonia aculeata
A quite extraordinary tree, the branches have very sharp spines, the leaves point backwards from the branches but the flowers are quite delicate and pretty. 


Vetch family possibly Narrow-leaved Birdsfoot Trefoil or a local equivalent                           


Tiny pinky/white flowers on a very delicate plant looking very out of place in this rocky landscape


Corn Mignonette
Much enlarged in this photo, a scruffy trailing plant with these nice delicate flowers


Traganum moquinii                                                                                                                



Canary lavender Lavandula multifida ssp. canariensis
I was surprised to find this area in a barranca which had both the typical purple/blue flowered and the rarer white flowered bushes. 


Lesser Jack Emex spinosa                                                                                                         
18th Jan and this was the first time I had seen this plant in flower. Last year they were flowing from the  beginning of December and were literally covering every patch of scrub land even by the bus stop.        


Lotus sessilifolium
Having found a vetch flowering a few days ago I initially thought that this was the same but a closer look at the foliage, and with help from ObsIdentify I found it to be a totally different plant which has established itself in many volcanic areas on Tenerife. 


Mixed wildflowers in nature reserve
Between La Tejita beach, the Red Mt. and El Medano there is a large area which has been dedicated as a nature reserve with signs asking people to stay on the paths and it is working. This is one area now covered with the Lotus sessilifolium and Paris daisy as well as bushes and grasses all becoming well established.  


Argemone mexicana                                                                                                                              
Surprisingly this plant will have a poppy-like yellow flower in a few weeks                                          


Field marigold Calendula arvensis sp.                                                                                      The leaves are the same as our Calendula in the UK but the flowers are much smaller                          


Sea-heath Frankenia laevis                                                                                                        
These flowers are absolutely tiny but very pretty                                                                               
                                                                             

Kleinia nerifolia    Euphorbia lamarckii                         
This stunted tree is many years old as you can see from the trunk but is now coming alive with these fine leaves. It was in the volcanic malpais area towards the Amarilla Mt. Identification corrected by experts 16/04/24


Common Ramping Fumitory
And now one that looks, and is, identical to those back home. Found by the side of the golf course.


Astydamia latifolia tbc. I thought these were Sea Kale but expert opinion is leaning towards the Astydamia.                                                                                                                           
Last year these were flowering in mid December but today 27th Jan is the first time I have see flowers.                      


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