Parque Nacional Garajonay

Besom heath (Erica scoparia ssp.platycodon)

Although its common name might be confused with the yew on the continent, Taxus baccata, this species is endemic to La Gomera and Tenerife forming a unique ecosystem: the yew heather, a hyperhumid woodland on the steepest slopes on the island, exposed to the prevailing wind. It can be distinguished from the heather by its reddish flowers, its leaves which are a little wider and tougher and by its trunk whose bark comes off in strips without breaking. It lives on very moist crests at between 800 and 1100 metres in height. Flowering: May-mid June