A Mediterranean Forest in Barcelona 2

Many tropical trees have developed a swollen consistency, giving them a sculptural appearance. This plant was a late scientific discovery made by the naturalist Mary Elizabeth Barber towards the end of the 19th century. She collected samples and sent them to the Botanic Gardens at Kew, in London (UK).

Many tropical trees have developed a swollen consistency, giving them a sculptural appearance. This plant was a late scientific discovery made by the naturalist Mary Elizabeth Barber towards the end of the 19th century. She collected samples and sent them to the Botanic Gardens at Kew, in London (UK).

The euphorbia or candelabra tree (also known as a tabaiba) has one of the most spectacular branch growth patterns. This species is endemic to the Savage Islands in the North Atlantic, where there are no more than 50 of them. All species of euphorbia and dragon tree live around the Sahara Desert in the Rand Flora floristic pattern, which is a somewhat mysterious biogeographical phenomenon.

This plant produces branches that divide from a single point, forming an umbel. Two different elements of the tree then grow from there: groups of large, bipinnate leaves, which encourage the growth of the branches; and a large number of spike inflorescences, which stop the growth and defoliate the branches, which eventually dry out.

Certain rainforest plants display extreme trunk and root modifications. They grow aerial roots, which become pillar-like props that support the foliage. As a result, the tree becomes a mass of trunks and very large pillar-shaped roots, with a continuous crown.

This tree grows in the river valleys of western North America. The trees are fast-growing, with soft and flexible wood and roots. In a garden, these trees grow quickly and abundantly because they are not affected by the floods that naturally prune and reduce these shrub-like trees.

Australian acacias have simple leaves. They no longer have the lamina, so the part that's visible is, in fact, the phyllode. This is a flat petiole, which is responsible for the process of photosynthesis. This is one of the biggest acacias in Australia. Unlike the other varieties of its species, it does not grow in the arid interior, but in the eastern rainforests.

There are laurel forests even in the southern hemisphere. These forests are where this acorn tree grows, which is endemic to Chile and belongs to the laurel family. It shares several morphological and functional characteristics with European laurels, although its fruit bears a closer resemblance to the acorns of Spanish oak trees, hence the name.

Another example of a species from the Americas that resembles a European one is the California horse-chestnut. It grows in the mildest part of the California chaparral, with its cold winters, which is why it is a deciduous tree. The tree has abundant, unmistakable flowers that have a strong scent and its fruit matures in the fall, revealing a gleaming chestnut on the inside.

This is a lianoid species that is endemic to the Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, as well as the Canary Islands, where it grows in the undergrowth alongside holm oaks, oaks, and juniper trees. It was first introduced to the European continent in the 1930s, on land that is now part of Barcelona's Historic Botanical Garden (Jardí Botànic Històric). But for many years, it remained hidden from the eyes of the wider horticultural world.

Proteas are a plant species native to the southern regions of Africa. Along with other species, it forms part of the fynbos—one of the most natural and well-known areas of vegetation on the Cape Peninsula. Its flowers resemble artichokes, with a neck of red bracts surrounding the inflorescence. The flowers are even pollinated by birds.