Botanical Studies

Japanese shrub or small ornamental tree with deeply lobed, palmate leaves. The flowers are inconspicuous and it is prized for its year-round foliage.

Acer palmatum

Herbaceous perennial with stems bearing whitish, violet-veined flowers from the centre of large, lobed basal leaves.

Acanthus mollis

The tree's showy flowers and the beautiful autumn colour of its five-leaved, palmate leaves are much appreciated in gardens and parks.

Aesculus flava

A succulent plant with evergreen leaves arranged in basal, rigid, linear rosettes featuring spines along the edges and apex. It blooms once, producing a yellow inflorescence, and then dies.

Agave americana

A beautiful tree admired for its symmetry and shape. It has a straight, cylindrical trunk and an imposing, often elongated pyramidal form. As it matures, its canopy takes on an umbrella-like appearance.

Araucaria araucana

Shrubs with thin, highly branched woody stems. The leaves are glossy on the upper side and rusty on the lower side. The trumpet-shaped flowers are delightful in shades of white, red, or pink. Requires soil with a tendency toward acidic pH.

Azalea - Rhododendron

A small tree with downward-sweeping branches, oval leaves and pendant bell-shaped flowers that give off a sweet fragrance.

Brugmansia arborea

A rustic shrub with dark green, opposite, pointed leaves and numerous flowers in dense cylindrical panicles, ranging from pink to dark purple and white to lilac. Their delicate fragrance attracts butterflies.

Buddleja davidii

A tree with a large rounded crown, bright green heart-shaped leaves which are very decorative due to their size and shape, and fragrant white bell-shaped flowers. It produces long pods which remain on the plant throughout the autumn.

Catalpa bignonioide

A succulent plant with a rather stout stem, swollen at the base and covered with large conical spines. It has palmate leaves and strikingly coloured funnel-shaped flowers.

Ceiba speciosa

A small tree with a very broad crown and very slender branches, though gnarled and twisted. The pink flowers sprout directly from the bark of the branches and trunk. Heart-shaped leaves appear after flowering.

Cercis siliquastrum

A large, long-lived evergreen tree with very rough, deeply fissured bark. Its leaves are glossy, leathery, and deep green. All parts of the plant contain camphor oil.

Cinnamomum camphora

A marsh herbaceous plant with large, pendulous, heart-shaped leaves featuring prominent veins. Highly decorative, its whitish flowers are rarely seen as they remain hidden beneath the foliage when they occasionally bloom.

Colocasia esculenta

A shrub with winding branches that gives the plant a striking appearance.  The rounded leaves, toothed at the edges during the growing season, are bright green. The nuts are small but edible.

Corylus avellana

Small tree with striking foliage, especially in autumn when it takes on red and orange hues. The small, purple-brown fruits adorned with soft, feathery hairs are reminiscent of light clouds.

Cotinus coggygria

A very ancient plant of the Gymnosperms, similar to conifers, with long, glossy, bright green pinnate leaves spiralling at the top of the stem.

Cycas revoluta

A herbaceous marsh plant with slender triangular stems bearing at the end a clump of thin bright green leaves arranged radially, at the end of which is a crown of small straw-coloured flowers.

Cyperus papyrus

An evergreen shrub with a trunk covered in scars from old leaves; from it, branches emerge bearing clusters of strap-shaped, gray-green leaves.

Draecena draco

Cactus with pronounced green ribs for chlorophyll photosynthesis. The leaves are turned into spines so as not to disperse too much water. 

Echinocactus grusonii

Very old perennial aquatic plant, consisting of erect, hollow green stems with brown bands on each internode. It has no flowers and multiplies vegetatively or by spores.

Equisetum hiemale

Small evergreen tree with large, substantial leaves and ivory-white flowers gathered in an inflorescence. The fruit is a sweet, thirst-quenching orange apple. 

Eriobotrya japonica

A succulent plant containing an irritating latex, it has lance-shaped leaves spiralling around the woody stem. The brightly coloured inflorescence is called cyathium.

Euphorbia characias

Plants that reproduce through spores carried on the underside of their leaves. The undergrowth is rich in different species of ferns, each with its own unique characteristics. The largest and most significant one found in our regions is Osmunda regalis.

Ferns - Osmunda Regalis

A plant known as the “Rubber Tree” for its internal latex, which is used in rubber production.

It has large, glossy dark green oval leaves attached to a thick, woody stem.

Ficus elastica

The name of the species biloba refers instead to the division into two lobes of the fan-shaped leaves, from the Latin bis and lobus with. Darwin defined this tree as a “living fossil” and it is still considered as such since its origins date back to 250 million years ago, in the Paleozoic era. 

Ginko Biloba

Shrub recognisable by the copious flowering of fertile flowers surrounded by sterile flowers in inflorescences of many shapes and colours. The colour may vary depending on the pH of the soil.

Hydrangea spp

Ornamental shrub with rounded crown and smooth trunk. The leaves are small, leathery and glossy green while the showy flowers are grouped in panicles of purplish-pink colour.

Lagerstroemia indica

Very long-lived evergreen deciduous plant. The flowers are large, solitary and stand out among the shiny foliage; very fragrant, creamy-white and waxy in colour they bloom in summer.

Magnolia grandiflora

Thought to be extinct, this conifer with a conical habit was found in China in the 1940s. It has soft pinnate needle-shaped leaves that are lost in winter; the male and female flowers are separate but develop on the same plant.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

Tree with an expansive crown and drooping branches bearing shiny dark green leaves. The flowers of different sexes are on separate plants and the fruits called nucules are pulpy and range from white to red to dark purple.

Morus alba var pendula

The banana tree is the largest herbaceous perennial plant capable of producing a flower. The plant first develops large, glossy, webbed leaves, then grows a long petiole bearing pendulous clusters of yellowish-white flowers protected by bracts, which will produce the helmet of fruits.

Musa acuminata

Small evergreen shrub with compact foliage and shiny, leathery leaves. The white flowers have abundant stamens and give the flower a fluffy appearance.

Myrtus communis

Perennial aquatic plant with roots that anchor it to the bottom. The leaves emerge from the water and open up into a round shape. The large, solitary flowers last a few days. They open in the morning and close in the late afternoon by partially submerging in water.

Nynphaea alba

Mediterranean plant with an irregular, twisted trunk has persistent silvery green leaves and inconspicuous white flowers. The fruit is an oval drupe, black when ripe and with oily flesh.

Olea europea

Bamboo are perennial grasses, though they can grow much taller than a tree. They have an elegant, flexible growth habit and do not shed their leaves in winter. The leaves are thin, long, arching outward, and bright green in color, growing on culms known as “canes.”

Phyllostachys spp

Evergreen tree with needle-shaped leaves grouped in clusters of 5. The male flowers, yellow, are grouped at the base of the new shoots while the female flowers, pinkish-purple, are borne at the tip. The small pine cones are covered with scales

Pinus cembra

Bushy shrub with needle-like leaves grouped in clusters of two. The male cones are in the lower part of the young twigs and the female cones are purplish on the terminal part.

The cones with spines on the scales have an oblique or horizontal habit.

Pinus mugo

Aquatic marsh plant consisting of a rosette of large green leaves; in summer it produces a very conspicuous spike of blue-purple flowers. It performs an important water purification task.

Pontederia cordata

A centuries-old plant with globular and very dense foliage of the oak family, but with persistent, leathery leaves and a great variety of shapes and shades of green. It is typical of the Mediterranean maquis.

Quercus ilex

Evergreen tree often used for cork production. Capable of regenerating the bark layer several times as long as the living tissues immediately underneath are not damaged. The bark itself is rough, pale on the outside and pinkish and spongy on the inside.

Quercus suber

Small tree with a broad crown and slender trunk. The infructescence, a red and vermilion panicle-like structure, and the leaf, up to half a metre large and composed of numerous toothed leaflets that take on all shades of colour in autumn, are very striking.

Rhus typhina

North American pinnate tree with pale green pinnate leaves and intensely fragrant white flowers grouped in pendulous clusters .

Robinia pseudoacacia

Shrub with soft pink flowers that create a beautiful contrast to the foliage composed of ovate leaflets with an almost black serrated margin.

Sambucus nigra

Conifer that loses its leaves in autumn and grows in swampy areas. It develops root protuberances emerging from the water and serving to supply the roots with air.

Taxodium distichum

An evergreen tree with dark green foliage that contrasts with the bright red berries it produces. The toxicity of the yew tree means that it is known as the tree of death.

Taxus baccata

Slender palm with large leaves and panicle-like inflorescences consisting of numerous flowers: male flowers are yellow, female flowers greenish and slightly fragrant. 

Trachycarpus fortunei

An irregular, twisted plant with deep green, webbed leaves and fruit clusters from which wine or other fermented beverages are made.

Vitis vinifera

Climbing shrub with gnarled, twisted trunks, pinnate compound leaves and showy, purple, highly scented clusters of flowers.

Wisteria sinensis

Evergreen grass with a columnar trunk on top of which emerges a tuft of slender bright green leaves. The cream-coloured flowers are borne on a long, lance-shaped scape.

Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

Succulent herbaceous plant with white bell-shaped flowers on stems up to 3 metres high. The cylindrical stem bears long, greyish, leathery leaves with smooth, sharp margins at the top.

Yucca gloriosa