Medroneiro, carqueja and tojo
Between the trees and the fields there is another landscape to discover.
Explore this story
Your choice is saved only in this browser.
Medronheiro, carqueja, tojo and madresilva appear in the municipal description of the serrana vegetation. The source also associates the altitude forests to the grazing of goats, cattle and sheep, distinguishing them from the pastures cultivated below. Thus, the forest is part of a landscape of plants, animals and work. These common names are a starting point to know the vegetation, not an identification of each plant found.
The municipal presentation relates this vegetation with changes of use: refers to the partial replacement of oaks, chestnut trees and forests by pine-bravo. Reading the landscape implies, therefore, also asking for what was planted and what it has become. A green spot can gather stories of grazing, cultivation and forest.
Start by choosing a detail in the following readings: the stem of the carqueja, the thorns of the tojo, the flowering and the fruits of the medronho or the position of the madresilva on the edge of the forest. Each question approaches the look without requiring that you already know how to identify all the plants.
Pick a detail of the bush
Open an option and choose the story.
A stem that also makes photosynthesis
In the carcass, the reduced leaves invite attention to the green and winged branches.
In the carqueja, stems also work →Where do the thorns come from?
The description of the tojo-arnal explains a transformation of the leaves and refers to winter flowering.
A forest of well defended branches →Flowers and fruits at the same time
The delay in maturation helps explain the meeting of the fruits with the following flowering.
Flowers and fruits in the same branch →The encounter between shadow and openness
The edge of the forest gives context to the habitat described for an example of honeysuckle.
Madresilva finds room on the edge →
Source and context
Municipality — landscape and vegetation
Accessed: . Editorial summary; the date of consultation is not the date of the facts.