Tajinastes in the Teide National Park Mataparda [CC BY-SA 2.0] |
As if all the fantastic shapes of the rocks around the Teide National Park weren't enough, nature goes and does these marvelous things with the plants too.
Tajinaste rojo (Echium wildpretii) is the name given in the Canary Islands to some species, generally endemic to the islands, of plants of the genus Echium. The name comes from the language of the aborigines (Guanches) and has pervaded until the present day. A large number of tajinastes in a group that forms a little forest of them, is called a tajinastal. The tajinaste rojo (red tajinaste) is endemic to the island of Tenerife and is found mainly in the Teide National Park. The plant blooms from late spring to early summer in Tenerife and, as the video below shows, it was flowering last year in June, which would indicate that this may be a good time of year to come to see them.
Tajinastes en la base del Teide - Junio / June de 2006