general - Sunday, April 13, 2008 22:45 - 0 Comments

Azores Flora

The archipelago of Azores belongs to the geographical region of Macaronesia due to its natural characteristics that are common to the other archipelagos of Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde. The fertility of the soil is what makes Azores islands so abundant in green pastures bordered by protective colourful flowers. The thick natural vegetation is composed of 56 indigenous species, some belonging to the Laurel Forest which was once present here. Nowadays this rare forest is fighting against alien species that were introduced for lumber production, like the Japanese Cryptomeria or Mimosas, other were brought here to serve as ornamental property dividers, like Hydrangea, Azaleas and Camellias. This exotic flora species were brought to the archipelago long ago by its colonisers and are still sometimes used by farmers for hedging.

The Azores flora has some endemic species that need to be protected from the invasion of the exotics, like Marsilia azorica, Prunus azorica, Lotus azorica, Euphrasia azorica and Myosotis azorica. Though other indigenous species are more spread through the islands, they must also be conserved from some introduced plagues.

Some of the dominant indigenous species are Juniperus brevifolia, Ilex perado ssp.azorica, Laurus azorica, Frangula azorica, Viburnum tinus subcordatum, Daboecia azorica, Erica scoparia azorica, Vaccinium cylindraceum, Euphorbia stygiana, Picconia azorica, Prunus lusitanica azorica.