Parque Nacional Garajonay

Lopez-lilloi holly (Ilex perado sp. lopez-lilloi)

A tree of some ten metres in height with straight trunk and many branches with horizontal or ascendant branches and large leaves which is differentiated from the common wild orange thanks to the larger stem of its fruit and also the total absence of spines on the leaves. Only a single locality of this endemic sub-species of the National Park is known, although its taxonomic status is not completely known. Each one of its fruits produces four seeds, which lack an embryo, with the result that they cannot germinate and produce new plants. However, it reproduces itself due to natural layers of the lower branches, which in contact with the soil produce new plants. It is a threatened species.