Flora

Endemic? Native? Exotic?

Endemic species occur only in one specific geographic region, and are not found anywhere else, with their native range restricted to that place. Native species occur naturally in a region – without human intervention – and are considered indigenous to their original area, but may be found in other locations around the world. Both are well adapted to the unique conditions of their habitat. Exotic species have been introduced to a region, usually by humans, and often adapt in ways that are not always favourable for endemic or native species. Sometimes an exotic species may become ‘naturalised’, which means that it has become established in this new environment and can reproduce and sustain its population without human intervention.

People associate Lanzarote with cacti, as it thrives here in abundance due to high aridity, but cacti only come from the Americas. The cacti-form succulent species of the Canaries and Africa, though externally often similar, are genetically very different. One distinction that can be quickly made is that a true cacti produces clear sap, while a plant like Euphorbia Canariensis (above) has a milky sap. In some euphorbia species this milky sap is very toxic, but that of Lanzarote’s Tabaiba dulce has traditional medicinal uses.

Haria has been inhabited for thousands of years. Before the Spanish colonised Lanzarote in the 14th Century, folk survived years of low or zero rain by their ‘Palmeral’ agroforestry system – the lovely Canarian palm is deep rooted enough to grow even in the driest years, feeding the fronds to their goats produced milk and meat. The 4 mature palms at the far end of the garden are part of an ancient palmeral. More recently people here developed the ‘picon’ system – the black volcanic cinders you see covering most fields here are added to eliminate evaporation, storing rainwater in the underlying clay soil for many months (see harialanzarote.com/stone-mulching ). I feel huge admiration for the ways people here have coped with adversity, I’m not sure if my appreciation is reciprocated, most of my neighbours don’t like trees – they take up water that could be used to grow potatoes!  For centuries life here has been a struggle, aridity and wind combine to make cultivation very difficult, because of this there is little local interest in growing anything you can’t eat.

Over the years I have noticed how our flowering plants seem to take turns in producing blossoms, presumably to ensure that there is always something to keep the pollinators alive.