Bosque de Bellver

Oxalis pes-caprae is an invasive species that is very prevalent all over the island. It is a beautiful bright green with yellow flowers. 

Arisarum vulgare was also carpeting the space that wasn't already occupied by trees, shrubs or Oxalis pes-caprae.

Lentisco (Pistacia lentiscus) is a very common shrub that I have seen all over the island with very bright berries.  It is a member of the Anacardiaceae family. 

Pinus halepensis is the dominant conifer species here on the island. 

Some wild lavender (Lavendula dentata).

Going after a crustose lichen on a lentisco. 

A little community garden at the foot of the Bellver Castle. 

Checking out some invasive Opuntia that can be seen all over the island.

Anagyris foetida is a beautiful shrub that I have seen a few times during my explorations on Mallorca. This plant is supposedly toxic so do not eat it!

A closeup of the acebuche (Olea europaea var. sylvestris) fruits. 

That cute little ascocarp to the left of the terricolous lichen I believe is Peziza subviolacea. The amazing folks at the University of the Balearic Islands also have a virtual herbarium of fungi! Unfortunately, for those of you that do not speak Castellano or Catalan, there is no English version. Luckily scientific names are universal!

Possibly an Amanita species? I have seen this guy all over the island in mountains and in fields. 

This wood rotter I encountered on a P. halepensis reminded me a lot of Porodedaelea pini.

The flowers of the madroño (Arbutus unedo).

La Trapa

We went on a hike in La Trapa in the northern part part of Mallorca near the tiny town of Sant Elm in the Tramuntana mountain range. 

Merendera filifolia

I had never seen anything like these specimens of the Lilliaceae that grow directly out of the ground! When I saw one for the first time I thought someone had picked the flower and stuck it in the ground. And then I saw them everywhere!

Viola arborescens is a very distinctive violet because the leaves are not heart-shaped.

Arisarum vulgare was abundant all along the trail at all elevations. The common name for A. vulgare here in Mallorca is frailillo. This name means "little friar" because the leaf surrounding the inflorescence looks like the hood of a friar and the inflorescence itself looks like the friar's big nose.

This really is a gorgeous specimen of the Araceae. And to think, in November! The flowering time is apparently December to March and they are very common here.

A pretty wide variety of colors on these guys. Unfortunately my camera wouldn't focus.

Me botanizing.

See the little purple heads of the Arisarum vulgare flowers poking up above the bright green foliage?

Leafy liverwort or some kind of Lycophyta?

Wild rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) or Romero, as it is called in Spanish is also very abundant on the island.

Some kind of poroid Basidiomycete that was absolutely everywhere in the lower elevation parts of the hike. 

You can somewhat see the poroid hymenophore in this picture.

I wish I had gotten a chance to look at these mushrooms more closely but they were not that common and the group we were with was keeping up quite a fast pace.

What stunning color. I wish I had an amazing website at my fingertips for fungus like I do for flowers with the Virtual Herbarium.

Crocus cambessedesii is called Safrá and is an endemic species of Mallorca and Menorca. It flowers from September to December in rocky areas. The leaves pop out after the plant is done flowering.

The heart shaped leaves in this picture are from the frailillo. 

The climate here is pretty arid, with lots of Pino Carrasco (Pinus halepensis) everywhere.

Heather (Erica multiflora) was also very abundant and very much in flower. 

I will definitely be returning to La Trapa more towards the springtime to check out what plants are starting to flower!

East Side of the Island

Here are a few botanical pictures from the east side of Mallorca, where I went this last weekend. I am meeting with a botany professor tomorrow so hopefully I will get some books on the flora of the island so I can give more details about what these pictures are of.

There were tons of these tiny little palms everywhere! They are called palmitos (Chamaerops humilis) and they are native to Mallorca.

Smilax aspera ssp. balearica

Lots of beautiful Araceae leaves popping up everywhere..

Some wild rosemary...

Fruticose lichens!

There are large patches of this orange lichen all over the place at the beach called Cala Varquez.

This hillside will be gorgeous in the spring with all those flower stalks covered in some kind of Lilliaceous flowers

I promise the next post will be way more descriptive!