Flora canaria > Especies silvestres
Aizoon hispanicum
Aizoon hispanicum L.
Familia
AIZOACEAE
Algazul, Gazul, Salado blanco, Cosco macho
Aizoon hispanicum is an herbaceous annual plant belonging to the Aizoaceae family. It is well known in Mediterranean regions by common names such as gazul, algazul, cosco macho or escarcha. Its morphology is notable for being adapted to arid and coastal environments, storing water in its tissues.
It is a creeping or erect plant reaching between 10 and 30 cm in height, densely branched from the base.
Its leaves are fleshy, light green, lanceolate and sessile. The entire surface of the plant is covered with small, hyaline, shiny papillae that resemble dewdrops or hoarfrost.
Its flowers are solitary and emerge from the forks of the stems; they have star-shaped tepals that are green on the outside and whitish or yellowish on the inside.
It produces a pentagonal capsule measuring about 20 mm, containing small black seeds.
This species thrives mainly in saline soils (halophilic), dry, chalky terrain, abandoned farmland, nitrified land and coastal sand dunes. Its geographical distribution covers the south and east of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, North Africa (including Egypt) and south-west Asia as far as Iran.
La Gomera, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote
Algazul, Gazul, Salado blanco, Cosco macho
Aizoon hispanicum is an herbaceous annual plant belonging to the Aizoaceae family. It is well known in Mediterranean regions by common names such as gazul, algazul, cosco macho or escarcha. Its morphology is notable for being adapted to arid and coastal environments, storing water in its tissues.
It is a creeping or erect plant reaching between 10 and 30 cm in height, densely branched from the base.
Its leaves are fleshy, light green, lanceolate and sessile. The entire surface of the plant is covered with small, hyaline, shiny papillae that resemble dewdrops or hoarfrost.
Its flowers are solitary and emerge from the forks of the stems; they have star-shaped tepals that are green on the outside and whitish or yellowish on the inside.
It produces a pentagonal capsule measuring about 20 mm, containing small black seeds.
This species thrives mainly in saline soils (halophilic), dry, chalky terrain, abandoned farmland, nitrified land and coastal sand dunes. Its geographical distribution covers the south and east of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, North Africa (including Egypt) and south-west Asia as far as Iran.
La Gomera, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote
