Chaenorrhinum glareosum or Sierra Nevada dwarf snapdragon

The Chaenorrhinum glareosum or ´Nevada dwarf snapdragon´ is one of the more than sixty endemic plants of Sierra Nevada. There are other snapdragon-like flowers in the massif, like the Chaenorrhinum villosum subsp granatense (´little dragons´) and Chaenorrhinum macropodum subsp macropodum, but this is the only one that can be found exclusively in Sierra Nevada. Its habitats are in the highest parts of the massive, above 2,500 metres in the ´pisos oro y crioromediterráneo´ (oromediterranean and crioromediterranean levels). The ´espuelilla´ or ´dragoncillo´ can be found on steep stony slopes or ´canchales´ (´pedregales móviles´ or ´cascajales sueltos´, gravelly areas with unstable schist slabs). Like the Viola crassiuscula, this perennial herb is able to sprout again after the stem has broken. This member of the figwort family also grows in psychro-xerophilous (cold and dry) pastures that are dominated by perennial grasses and small shrubs. It can also form part of the communities formed by species adapted to live in the cracks of rocks. These communities are very diverse and their composition is influenced by various factors such as orientation, steepness of the slope, level of sunlight and insolation, humidity, depth of the soil and the accessibility of the terrain for herbivorous mammals. This makes that each plant of such a community is linked to a characteristic microhabitat. As there are few insects in the highest parts of the massif, flowers need to compete to be pollinated. The flower needs to attract the insect by well developed petals with attractive colours. According to Gabriel García Guardia, the author of Flores silvestres de Andalucía, the Chaenorrhinum glareosum with its tiny purple flowers with yellow throats, is one of the most beautiful plants of the Sierra Nevada. Maybe that´s why it has been able to withstand to competition so far and is at the moment not considered rare or vulnerable. We have seen this mountain jewel a number of times, close to the top of the Mulhacén and close to the top of the Cerro del Gallo, amongst others.




Related articles:
- Guía de visita Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada
- References on the local flora

Related key words:
scrophulariaceae, escrofulariáceas, figwort family, helmkruidfamilie, braunwurzgewächse, famille de plantes dicotylédones

Festival de Música Tradicional de la Alpujarra, Almócita 2010

The Festival de Música Tradicional de la Alpujarra is the most important manifestation of traditional Alpujarran music. This Festival of Traditional Music of the Alpujarra is held every year since 1982, on the second Sunday of August. The locality where it takes place varies each year. This year it is on the 8th of August and it will be hosted by Almócita. About twenty-five groups will participate in this town in de Almería province. According to an article in the Ideal, Celia Garcia-Ruiz won the contest of the design of the poster of the 29th edition of the festival. The first years it was designed by Martín Morales, and over the years it has become a type of collector´s item for some people. On a personal blog of somebody from Cádiar, we can find all the ´carteles del festival´ and a ´historia del festival´.
The twenty-ninth edition of the festival will be dedicated to Alejandro Buendía Muñoz for his research work on the local customs and traditions. The ethnologist Alejandro Buendía Muñoz is the director of the Museo Histórico Etnográfico de Terque and Museo de la Uva del Barco.
The ´orden the actuación´ , the order of performances or program can be found on the blog of Rafael Gan, one of the ´presentadores´. The first group will perform at 10.00 hours.






Related articles:
- Music of the day archive

Related links:
- Article from the Ideal Almócita se convierte en sede del consolidado día de la Alpujarra

Iberis carnosa embergeri, carraspique de Sierra Nevada

The Iberis carnosa subsp embergeri is one of the more than sixty endemic plants of Sierra Nevada. It is a small type of candytuft with lovely white or pinkish flowers. Its habitat are pastures with little vegetation on steep rocky slopes and ´cascajares´ (steep slopes of relatively unstable mica-schist slabs). It grows in windy areas with a high insolation between 2,900 and 3,200 metres (criomediterranean level), often accompanied by Linaria glaciales, Viola crassiuscula and Artemisia. It starts flowering in June, whereas most other plants in this bioclimatic zone start flowering in July. It can also be found at the highest parts of the oromediterranean level, accompanied by Sideritis glacialis, Arenaria tetraquetra subsp. amabilis, Thymus serpylloides, Hormathophylla spinosa, Arenaria pungens and Erodium cheilanthifolium. It passed from the list of ´vulnerable´ to ´endangered´. One of the risks is overgrazing by herbivorous mammals. Tourism constitutes another threat. According to the information on this ´carraspique de Sierra Nevada´ in Flora amenazada y endémica de Sierra Nevada there are only two populations (between 12000 and 15000 plants). These are close to classical hiking routes (Loma Pelada), and this is one of the reasons why it passed to the list of endangered species. This situation implies a great risk, if something happens to one of the populations, the situation becomes very alarming. We (think we) saw this endangered iberis close to the top of the Cerro del Gallo. If this is correct there must be another population. When we look at the small map in Flora amenazada y endémica de Sierra Nevada on which the two known populations are located, we are to the right of them. We will try to find out whether this is true. If so this would be good news, as ´our´ iberis is relatively far from any classical walking route.

Related articles:
- Cerro del Gallo, the highest mountain of Bérchules
- References on the local flora

Related key words: brassicaceae, brasicáceas, brassicacées, cruciferae, crucifers, crucíferas, kruisbloemenfamilie, kreuzblütengewächse, crucifères, sierra nevada candytuft, sierra nevada scheefbloem, sierra nevada schleifenblume, sierra nevada ibéride

References on the local flora

We enjoy writing about the local wildlife as we are ourselves enchanted by how much the area with its unique biodiversity has to offer. Quite a number of texts on the local flora are written by Gabriel Blanca. This botanist and leading Spanish taxonomist is a professor at the University of Granada. He has dedicated part of his academic and scientific career to the study of the flora of eastern Andalusia and the study and conservation of endemic and threatened flora. An important publication that we often consult is Flora amenazada y endémica de Sierra Nevada (pdf 18MB), published by the Universidad de Granada in 2001. Many guidebooks like Guía de visita Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada count on his contributions. We hope that our posts on the local flora and fauna are appreciated by those interested in the natural heritage of the Sierra Nevada, but that do not know Spanish. We use the texts of Gabriel Blanca and his collaborators as a source of information for our ´flora posts´. An important reference to which we quite regularly make direct links are the texts Merche S. Calle and Juan Enrique Gómez, authors of the Guía de Plantas of the online magazine Waste. Another important source of information is the publication Flores Silvestres de Andalucía de Gabriel García Guardia, published by Editorial Rueda in 1988.

Semana Cultural Juviles 2010

The VII Semana Cultural de Juviles will this year be held from the 30th of July to the 4th of August. This is the programme of this cultural week, that can also be found on the website of the Ayuntamiento de Juviles.