The Sociedade Portuguesa de Botânica makes known to the general public the native flora of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, through Flora-On Madeira (madeira.flora-on.pt), “a new magnificently illustrated portal of obligatory consultation for all lovers and scholars of nature”, informs a press note that stresses that this will be launched this Saturday, December 17th.
“Flora-On Madeira will present illustrated, at its launch, 80% of the approximately 170 species of plants that in the whole world only exist in Madeira (Madeira endemics), including rare orchids, giant carrots and tree-like milkweed”, he says. .
The trees that make up the laurisilva (Madeira’s original forest) will also be well represented, such as the barbusano, the puffer, the tilde, the mocano or the mahogany. The genera endemic to the archipelago will also be represented (Chamaemeles, Musschia, Sinapidendron) and the multiple cases of island gigantism (eg Digitalis sceptrum, Echium portosanctensis, Geranium maderense, Sonchus fruticosus) – all with the Flora-On seal, the interactive flora of Portugal.
They recall that “on February 25, 2022, the Flora-On project completed 10 years of existence. Since its creation, it has been possible to systematize photographic, geographic, morphological and ecological information for an ever-increasing number of native or naturalized plant species from Mainland Portugal and, since 2015, also the Azores.
In order to fulfill the initial purpose of portraying the flora of the entire Portuguese territory, Flora-On arrives, from the 17th of December 2022, to the Madeira archipelago to contribute for the public dissemination of Madeira’s natural heritage. On the same day, the portal dedicated to the Azores will gain a renewed look, with the inclusion of photos illustrating important habitats from all the islands of the archipelago”