Gran Canaria beyond the Giant Hotels

© Wolfgang Borgmann

Köln

Wuppertal Düsseldorf

Bergheim

Flughafen Köln/Bonn

Leverkusen

Gran Canaria is an almost circular

island of approximately 45

km diameter.

It is often called a 'continent in miniature'.

Not without good reason:

Couldn't this be the Grand Canyon?

Doesn't this remind you of rice

terraces in Bali?

Doesn't a Hurtigruten tour look something

like this?

And couldn't this also be in North-West Argentina, e.g. Cerro de los Siete Colores?

Anyway - here we are in the

southwest of the island. Large

populations of Euphorbia

balsamifera dominate the

landscape here.

It' s strange: If this were a rare species, collectors would certainly be

willing to spend large sums of

money on such rustic specimens.

This one has a

diameter of over 2 m, looks

but much bigger in the photo.

On this slope it is slippery in places

due to loose rocks. But the way is

worth the trouble.

That’s because here another

succulent occurs between the

bonsai-shaped spurges, some of

them well hidden, others visible from

afar through the almost white

shoots.

It's Ceropegia fusca.

In addition to the upright shoots,

older plants always have prostrate

shoots that take root and can

branch out again.

The flowers in this growing place are

not completely brown, as the species name

suggests, but have a yellowish throat.

Over seemingly endless serpenti-

nes (see title picture) we head

towards the centre of the island. But the long way is

worth it. Here the view

from Acusa Verde in direction of the

holy mountain Roque Bentayga

and Tejeda.

Euphorbia regis-jubae reaches

exceptional sizes here. Individual

shrubs are almost 3 m high.

Here an also extraordinary large

specimen of Senecio kleinia.

And here is a much smaller one that stands out for its

dark bark.

The winter was (as so often in the last

years) much too dry, and also in this case it was

only just enough for an atmospheric picture, but not for

some proper precipitation.

Aeonium percarneum is

regularly found on sunny slopes right next to the road.

The leaf rosettes are very

attractively coloured.

The whitish flowers are less

noticeable.

Also regularly found along the roads: Echium onosmifolium. It’s one of the

numerous species of bugloss that evolved in the Canary Islands.

In the background the striking Roque

Nublo.

A view of the beautiful

mountain village Tejeda with the

Roque Bentayga.

It is worthwhile to look up from time

to time: Rock-dwelling

succulents also like to conquer roofs,

here Aeonium percarneum (left)

and Aeonium simsii.

The colour of this very synthetic-

looking speciality is actually of

natural origin: The pink-coloured goat's cheese was

affinated with cactus fruits!

This is the source of the strident color: Opuntia

dillenii.

Or was it Opuntia ficus-indica (then

of course their ripe fruits ...)?

In a front garden a relatively young

dragon tree (Dracaena draco).

is in bloom. You don't often see

these flowers that close.

On the north side of a wall, a rather light-shy succulent Aichryson puncta-tum (or Aichryson pachycaulon ssp.

punctatum).

The inflorescences are richly

branched and flower over a relatively long

period.

For a change in natural

surroundings: Aeonium simsii on

basalt rocks.

The leaves show a fine pattern. These lines are glandular

cells.

Aeonium simsii steps out of line

within the genus: It is the only

Aeonium species whose

inflorescences emerge laterally

instead of developing from

the centre of a leaf rosette.

(Foto © Thomas Brand)

It occurs mainly in the zone of pine forests, both on

the drier southern sides of the

mountains and on the northern sides,

where the trade wind clouds

regularly provide more humidity.

Here the species grows together with Aeonium

aureum (formerly known as

Greenovia aurea).

The previous photo was taken in March. During the

following dry season the plants

change their appearance very

much.

The outer leaves dry out and turn pink, while the

inner ones form a compact blue-green bud that

reduces evaporation.

A great colour contrast!

The cloud forest does not only

consist of pines. Here it is chestnut

trees, densely covered with

bearded lichen.

This zone is not permanently

fogged in. At an open place, which regularly receives sunlight, Aeonium percarneum (right)

and Aeonium undulatum grow directly next to

each other.

The growth habit of Aeonium un-dulatum is very

special: the plants branch from the

base and one shoot grows

dominantly until flowering. After that it dies and another shoot

becomes the main shoot.

At lower altitudes in the north of the

island - where laurel forest once

was growing - Aeonium

canariense var. virgineum is found.

The violet colouring in the heart of the leaf rosettes is not

common; I have seen it like this

only in one place.

A typical non-succulent plant of

this vegetation zone is the Canary Island Bellflower

Canarina canariensis.

A big advantage of the Canarian Islands is that there are no

poisonous animals. These wasps are

probably the most dangerous animals I have ever come across in all these

years.

Finally a side trip to the northwest at Agaete. At first sight the vegeta-

tion resembles the landscapes with

Euphorbia balsamifera, which I introduced at the

beginning.

However, here it is another spurge

species that dominates the landscape: the

leafless Euphorbia aphylla.

The inflorescences are tiny and quite inconspicuous for

us humans. Insects - fortunately for

the species - definitely see

things differently …

The path to the rocky outcrop is largely free of

vegetation.

Between the boulders at the

'fat tip' (the rocky outcrop is called

Punta Gorda), however, nume-rous succulents

thrive again, in this case Euphorbia

aphylla and Euphorbia

balsamifera.

Towards the Atlantic Ocean the

mixture is additionally

supplemented by Senecio kleinia and

Opuntia dillenii.

A gardener couldn't have

designed it more beautifully - a

fantastic place for a picnic, ...

...at least for people who are

free from giddiness!

And opposite, the Pico del Teide is towering on the

horizon. It's only 90 km

away - and a good 3,600 metres in

altitude …

Comments, questions and hints are welcome, either under wolfgang. borgmann(at)gmx.net

or in the DKG forum

(https://www.kuas-forum.de/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=4555&p=33169&sid=c76a2575ca87d1b527dbf694bbe7322b#p33169).