Ringing in the Spring
Those of you who get out walking in the greener parts of Tenerife’s protected natural parks, may, if the vegetation is lush, green and hasn’t been disturbed by human activity, come across a plant with unusual flowers which is making its annual regatta of colour.

The plant in question is the Canarian Bellflower, or the Bicacaro.  Each of the flowers, as the English name suggests, are like little bells, are orangey-red, and hang downwards from the vine like stems of the plant.  The plant is a creeper which grows best in semi shade and is very much associated with laurel forest formations found on the hillsides on the north side of the islands at elevations of some 500 metres and above.  This plant has an extensive flowering season and the flowers are later replaced by a strange orange fruit which although curious looking, isn’t very appetizing even if it is edible and was once consumed by island inhabitants.  It is a plant which is only naturally found here in the western-most islands of the Canaries, although on the island of Tenerife it can be quite profuse in some areas, and the leaves and stems of the plant add to the jungle atmosphere of some of the green mountain forests characteristic to the north of many of these Atlantic islands.  It’s a real treasure of the Canarian flora and makes a great subject to an oil or pastel painting, or line drawing, and if you’re not gifted with a great artistic bent, then take a photo of your friends next to a great clump of this plant, the sprinkling of flowers in the green, as a background, will be a talking point for years to come.

Details of the Canarian bellflower

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