Parque Nacional Garajonay

Canary Islands Holly (Ilex canariensis)

This endemic tree from Macaronesia is highly abundant on the Island. It is not difficult to recognise: the light-coloured trunk has black and brown stains, it reproduces itself by means of suckers and in the moist areas there are mosses hanging from its branches, which can be as long as a metre and a half in length and which are known as "barbas de acebiño". What is more, at the end of the spring, the tree fills up with red fruits that are similar to its northern cousin the acebo Ilex aquifolium. It is much used in making domestic and agricultural implements.