Flora canaria > Especies silvestres
Ilex lopezlilloi
Ilex perado Aiton ssp. lopezlilloi (G. Kunkel) A. Hansen & Sunding
Familia
AQUIFOLIACEAE
Naranjero salvaje de La Gomera
Ilex perado ssp. lopezlilloi, commonly known as the Gomera wild orange tree or bojo, is an extremely rare and critically endangered evergreen tree, endemic to the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
An evergreen tree or shrub that can reach up to 10 metres in height, with a trunk that is heavily branched from the base and smooth, greyish bark.
The leaves are bright dark green, alternate, leathery in texture (hard), oval or obovate in shape, and have a rounded or obtuse apex. Unlike the common wild orange tree, the leaves are completely free of spines along their margins, which are entire.
It flowers between May and June, producing small axillary clusters of four white petals. Its fruits are bright red, globose drupes (about 10 mm in diameter) and are notable for having a peduncle that is significantly longer than that of other subspecies.
It is a species endemic exclusively to the centre of La Gomera, mainly found in the montane rainforest within Garajonay National Park.
It is one of the most endangered trees in Spain. Originally, only two specimens were known to exist in the wild. Thanks to intensive reforestation and conservation programmes, its monitored population has managed to increase to just over fifteen specimens.
Each fruit produces four seeds, but these lack an embryo, which prevents them from germinating naturally. In the wild, the plant survives and propagates vegetatively through natural layering (when its lower branches touch the ground and take root).
La Gomera
Naranjero salvaje de La Gomera
Ilex perado ssp. lopezlilloi, commonly known as the Gomera wild orange tree or bojo, is an extremely rare and critically endangered evergreen tree, endemic to the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
An evergreen tree or shrub that can reach up to 10 metres in height, with a trunk that is heavily branched from the base and smooth, greyish bark.
The leaves are bright dark green, alternate, leathery in texture (hard), oval or obovate in shape, and have a rounded or obtuse apex. Unlike the common wild orange tree, the leaves are completely free of spines along their margins, which are entire.
It flowers between May and June, producing small axillary clusters of four white petals. Its fruits are bright red, globose drupes (about 10 mm in diameter) and are notable for having a peduncle that is significantly longer than that of other subspecies.
It is a species endemic exclusively to the centre of La Gomera, mainly found in the montane rainforest within Garajonay National Park.
It is one of the most endangered trees in Spain. Originally, only two specimens were known to exist in the wild. Thanks to intensive reforestation and conservation programmes, its monitored population has managed to increase to just over fifteen specimens.
Each fruit produces four seeds, but these lack an embryo, which prevents them from germinating naturally. In the wild, the plant survives and propagates vegetatively through natural layering (when its lower branches touch the ground and take root).
La Gomera
