Azorean Dwarf Mistletoe (Arceuthobium azoricum)

Dear Readers, the Azores are famous for their whales, but they have a pretty limited fauna otherwise – there are some subspecies of birds such as the woodpigeon and the bullfinch, and some shearwaters and other seabirds, but not, as far as I can see, any species which are unique to the islands. What they do have, though, are some endemic plants, such as the Dwarf Mistletoe shown above, which lives on the Azorean Juniper (Juniperus brevifolia) which forms dwarf forests on Pico (the very island that we’ll be visiting). The juniper also only grows in the Azores.

Azorean Juniper (Juniperus brevifolia) Photo By Alberto Garcia from Cartagena, Spain – Brezales y helechos.Uploaded by tm, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23297652

There are endemic daisies and umbellifers, ferns and heathers. There is a euphorbia that grows only on the Azores.

Euphorbia azorica (Photo by By Ixitixel – eigene Arbeit (selbst fotografiert), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3816312)

There is an Azorean ivy that grows nowhere else.

Azorean Ivy

There is a pale-pink Azorean scabious.

Azorean scabious (Scabiosa nitens) Photo By Ixitixel – eigene Arbeit (selbst fotografiert), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3815990

And probably most intriguing of all, there is Hochsetter’s Butterfly Orchid (Platanthera azorica), possibly Europe’s rarest true orchid, which was rediscovered in 2011. It grows in the laurel forests of the Azores, a rare habitat formed by yet another endemic species, the Azorean laurel (Lauris azorica).

Azorean Laurel in Flower (Photo By Ixitixel – eigene Arbeit, selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3826347)

And here’s me thinking that it’s all about the whales (which are the big draw, of course, in more ways than one). The habitats that emerge on islands are always intriguing, and it looks as if the Azores is no different. I’m off to Lisbon for the first leg of the trip today, so let’s see what happens next!