Scientific name: ‘Pericallis appendiculata’
Common name: Palomera o Alamillo de Gran Canaria
Family: ‘Asteraceae’
Genus: ‘Pericallis’
Endemic to: Gran Canaria
Description: Plant sub-species considered in danger of extinction in the National Catalogue of Species under Threat, and in need of a recovery plan. It is a bush that can be found in the endemic laurel forest of Gran Canaria, although the mother species commonly known as Mato Blanco is also present in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro where it is not in any danger. This small bush grows in shady habitats and has pure white flowers; it is common, except in Gran Canaria, where it is found as an extremely rare and almost extinct preauxiana variety. There is a popular belief that if the stems are cooked with sweet wine and water, it will cure stomach complaints, this is noted in David Bramwell’s pocket guidebook ‘Flora of the Canary Islands’. The species generally reproduces through seed production or splitting root masses.
