The flower garden of Tenerife
The flora
Tenerife is often referred to as The Kingdom of Flowers or The Flower Garden, because the native flora on Tenerife is exclusive, unique and diverse at the same time. The isolated location ensured its uniqueness. The last Ice Age buried Europe under glaciers and destroyed the formerly subtropical vegetation of the Tertiary. Ferns, laurel forests and dragon trees survived in the Canary Islands. On the archipelago, which never had a land connection, groups of plants could develop that differ significantly from their siblings on the neighboring continents.
Tenerife's flora results from the extreme differences in altitude on the island and the constantly blowing trade winds. Different climatic and vegetation zones are therefore close together. Dry semi-deserts are not far from warm cloud forests and pine forests at a good temperature abruptly merge into barren mountain landscapes. Each zone has its own vegetation with plants that have adapted to the respective conditions.
The plants had to think of a lot to survive in this climate. Almost all of the plants that you can find here are endemic, which means that they can only be found in the Canary Islands. In addition to the tajinaste (adder head) and the Teide gorse, this also includes the Canarian pine, which has adapted perfectly to its environment. On the one hand, she can drink from the clouds, i.e. it removes moisture from the air. On the other hand, in forest fires it can suffocate the fire with its resin, so that a forest fire cannot harm it - the first green tips sprout after four weeks at the latest and after a few years only the changes in the bark are reminiscent of the fire.
Many types of succulents are native to Tenerife, such as the candelabra milkweed or the tabaiba, which even gave a village its name. And last but not least the legendary dragon tree, which the Guanches ascribed healing and miraculous powers.
In addition to all these endemic plants, there are also plants from all parts of the world. For example, aloe vera and strelitzia were imported from Africa and cultivated on Tenerife. Australian eucalyptus trees were planted in the 16th and 17th centuries, when a lot of wood was needed to build ships and houses, but the Canarian pine was already heavily cut down. Today there is a whole eucalyptus forest in the Esperanza forest, which smells wonderful on warm summer days.
The famous Ficus benjamina, which comes from Asia and which is often ailing in our latitudes, defies wind and weather on Tenerife. The so-called shade trees grow on every village square. The Canarios are very committed to the preservation of these trees because they provide pleasant coolness on hot summer days.
In addition, the conquerors brought vast amounts of bushes and trees with them from South and North America, which today fit wonderfully into the image of the island. These include the prickly pear, the bougainvillea, the agaves, which the Canarios used as a Christmas tree, or the Christmas or Christmas star.
You can see many of these species in all regions of the island. In the botanical garden in Puerto de la Cruz you can also get a lot of useful information about the individual plants.
The fauna
Tenerife's wildlife is less biodiverse. Bats are the only mammals to have found their way to the sunny island. Rabbits were later introduced by the conquerors. Birds and butterflies, on the other hand, chirp and flutter through nature in large numbers. Many species of falcon and songbirds can be found here.
If there is a suspicious rustling in the bushes on the way, nimble lizards are probably hunting there that won't even disdain a piece of banana or apple. Their relatives, the geckos, are mostly around humans. Dangerous encounters with the animal world are not to be feared on Tenerife even on lonely mountain paths, because there are no snakes, scorpions or wild predators. In remote regions, you may come across a goat.
