Plants

Flora-On describes rosemary as a melliferous plant of early flowering, often planted near apiaries. It prefers exposed, dry and hot places, in open shrubs or tree formations. The record uses Rosmarinus officinalis and indicates Salvia rosmarinus as synonym. It is general information of the species: it does not identify a plant of the Arc site or the composition of a honey produced in Cabeceiras.

The preference for dry places does not limit rosemary to a single type of land. Flora-On describes it in sandy, shale or limestone soils, both acidic and basic. The expression “indifferent edaphic” refers precisely to this tolerance to different soil conditions; it does not mean that light, temperature and water stop importing.

The presence of people also enters this story. According to the chart, the planting with apiaries expanded the distribution of the species in Portugal. Finding a plant does not automatically explain how it arrived at the site: spontaneous occurrence and presence linked to cultivation are different information.

The Tojo-arnal, Ulex europaeus subsp. europaeus, is a bush of strong thorns that can reach two meters. The record of the Arboreto de Barcelos associates it to urzais, hedges and edge of forests and refers flowering in winter. Thus, a landscape of forests can have flowers outside spring.

The same source records uses such as fodder, cattle litter and fuel. These uses belong to the general description of the plant; they do not document a specific practice of Cabeceiras. The municipality mentions tojos in the serran landscape, without determining the species of each place.

The Arboreto describes leaves transformed into thorns and a branch that can be opened or compact. The outer form gains another interest when we ask what part of the plant comes from each structure. In the tojo, the record speaks of transformed leaves; in the galvant, what looks like a leaf is a flattened branch. In the carqueja, green stems also participate in photosynthesis. Compare these stories helps to look beyond the silhouette.