romero-marino

Marine Rosemary

Common name: Sea rosemary

Scientific name: Campylanthus salsoloides

Status: In Fuerteventura it is a rare species that is generally found on vertical rock faces that cattle do not reach.

Habitat and distribution: Canarian endemism present on all the islands except La Palma and El Hierro. It grows from near the coast to the midlands, in arid and sunny rocky environments with xerophytic scrub vegetation (cardonal-tabaibal). Widely distributed but very scarce in Fuerteventura.

How to recognize it: Shrub with an aromatic smell, generally 30-50 cm tall, exceptionally reaching a meter. Leaves linear, succulent. Flowers with tubular mauve corolla, with characteristic curvature.

Curiosities: It blooms throughout the year, even in the most arid environments. It is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental plant.

The genus Campylanthus, of which there are 6-7 species (only one of them in the Canary Islands), is found in the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands, in the Atlantic, as well as in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and the island of Socotra, in the Indian Ocean. It shares this disjunct distribution with some other plants, such as the arborescent dragon trees of the genus Dracaena.