The Flora of Cape Verde includes the flowers and plants of Cape Verde, mostly native to the islands. There are about 240 species of plants.
About the flora In the process of development, many lands in the islands were converted to agricultural fields and several hundred varieties of herbaceous plant and tree species were introduced, resulting in depletion of the original vegetation. However, efforts are now underway at reforestation to improve the wildlife of Cape Verde, with reported planting of three million new trees every year (about 7000 per day), with pine, oak, sweet chestnut and acacia as the prominent varieties being planted. Cape Verde is also one of the world's top ten coral reef Biodiversity hotspots.
Historically, Cape Verde was probably not rich with greenery, although the evidence of the situation in earlier times is severely lacking. When Cape Verde was first discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century, the wildlife consisted mainly of dry forests and scrub habitat, which underwent a sea change under the influence of the inhabitants of this then isolated and uninhabited group of islands. The endemic flora and fauna of the islands were disturbed and have now remained confined mostly in the mountain peaks, steep slopes and other inaccessible areas. Vegetation in the islands is basically of the savannah or steppe type. There are trees typical of both temperate and tropical climates, depending on elevation. The flatter parts of the islands sustain semi-desert plants while the higher lands have arid shrubland. The leeward slopes tend to contain desert, with a very sparse shrub cover, mostly thorny or toxic. A number of xerophilous plants grow in the brackish subsoil of Maio, Sal, and Boa Vista.
There are 664 listed plant species, which include two threatened species. Over 80 vascular plant taxa are reported to be endemic to Cape Verde; these include Tornabenea, Aeonium gorgoneum, Campanula bravensis (bellflower), Asteriscus smithii (Nauplius smithii), Artemisia gorgonum (sagebrush), Sideroxylon marginatum, Lotus jacobaeus, Lavandula rotundifolia, Cynanchum daltonii, Euphorbia tuckeyana, Polycarpaea gayi and Erysimum caboverdeanum (wallflower). Several trees are indigenous such as the blue-green flat-topped dragon tree Dracaena draco, Tamarix senegalensis, Phoenix atlantica (tamateira), in the lagoons and deserts of Boavista, the ironwood tree and a species of fig tree and Prosopis juliflora which locally is simply called "acácia"). As a result of extensive tree planting since 1975, there are pine trees, oaks and sweet chestnuts on the cool peaks of Santo Antao, eucalyptus on the heights of Fogo, multiple neem trees in São Vicente and forests of acacia on Maio.
List of endangered flora Here is a list of endangered flora in Cape Verde, of which 97 are ranked species and 19 are ranked subspecies. They belong to 62 genera and 28 families. Of which 50 of them are in the island of Santo Antão, 45 in São Nicolau, 38 in Santiago and 37 in Fogo. 80% of them are in the highlands.The Cape Verde Islands // Sociedade Caboverdiana de Zoologia
No.SpeciesFamily 1Aeonium gorgoneumCrassulaceae 2Aeonium webbiiCrassulaceae 3Arenaria gorgoneaCaryophyllaceae 4Aristida cardosoiPoaceae 5Aristida funiculata var. paradoxaPoaceae 6Artemisia gorgonumAsteraceae 7Asparagus squarrosusAsparagaceae 8Asteriscus daltoniiAsteraceae 9Asteriscus smithiiAsteraceae 10Asteriscus vogeliiAsteraceae 11Brachiaria lata subsp. caboverdianaPoaceae 12Campanula bravensisCampanulaceae 13Campanula jacobaeaCampanulaceae 14Campylanthus benthamiiPlantaginaceae 15Campylanthus glaber subsp. spathulatusPlantaginaceae 16Carex antoniensisCyperaceae 17Carex paniculata subsp. hanseniiCyperaceae 20Centaurium tenuiflorum subsp. viridenseGentianaceae 21Chloris pilosaPoaceae 22Conyza feaeAsteraceae 23Conyza pannosaAsteraceae 24Conyza schlechtendaliiAsteraceae 25Conyza variaAsteraceae 26Cuscuta nothochlaenaConvolvulaceae 27Cyphia sthenoCampanulaceae 28Diplotaxis antoniensisBrassicaceae 29Diplotaxis gorgadensisBrassicaceae 30Diplotaxis gracilisBrassicaceae 31Diplotaxis glaucaBrassicaceae 32Diplotaxis harra subsp. harraBrassicaceae 33Diplotaxis hirtaBrassicaceae 34Diplotaxis sundingiiBrassicaceae 35Diplotaxis variaBrassicaceae 36Echium glabrescensBoraginaceae 37Echium hypertropicumBoraginaceae 38Echium stenosiphon subsp. lindbergiiBoraginaceae 39Echium vulcanorumBoraginaceae 40Enteropogon rupestrisPoaceae 41Eragrostis concertiiPoaceae 42Eragrostis insulatlanticaPoaceae 43Erysimum caboverdeanumBrassicaceae 44Fagonia mayanaZygophyllaceae 45Fagonia sinaica var. albifloraZygophyllaceae 46Festuca gracilisPoaceae 47Forsskaolea procridifoliaUrticaceae 48Forsskaolea viridisUrticaceae 49Frankenia ericifolia subsp. caboverdeanaFrankeniaceae 50Frankenia ericifolia subsp. montanaFrankeniaceae 51Globularia amygdalifoliaPlantaginaceae 52Gongrothamnus bolleanusAsteraceae 53Gossypium capitis-viridisMalvaceae 54Helianthemum gorgoneumCistaceae 55Ipomoea sancti-nicolaiConvolvulaceae 56Ipomoea webbiiConvolvulaceae 57Kickxia brunneriPlantaginaceae 58Kickxia elegans ssp dichondraefoliaPlantaginaceae 59Kickxia elegans ssp elegansPlantaginaceae 60Kickxia elegans ssp webbianaPlantaginaceae 61Launaea gorgadensisAsteraceae 62Launaea intybaceaAsteraceae 63Launaea melanostigmaAsteraceae 64Launaea picridioidesAsteraceae 65Launaea thalassicaAsteraceae 66Lavendula strictaLamiaceae 67Limonium brauniiPlumbaginaceae 68Limonium brunneriPlumbaginaceae 69Limonium jovibarbaPlumbaginaceae 70Limonium lobiniiPlumbaginaceae 71Limonium sundingiiPlumbaginaceae 72Linaria brunneriPlantaginaceae 73Lobularia canariensis subsp. fruticosaBrassicaceae 74Lobularia canariensis subsp. spathulataBrassicaceae 75Lotus arborescensFabaceae 76Lotus brunneriFabaceae 77Lotus jacobaeusFabaceae 78Lotus latifoliusFabaceae 79Lotus purpureusFabaceae 80Lythanthus amygdalifoliusPlantaginaceae 81Melanoselinum insulareApiaceae 82Nauplius daltoniiAsteraceae 83Nauplius smithiiAsteraceae 84Nervilia simplexOrchidaceae 85Odontospermum daltoniiAsteraceae 86Odontospermum volgeliiAsteraceae 87Papaver gorgoneumPapaveraceae 88Paronychia illecebroidesCaryophyllaceae 89Periploca laevigataApocynaceae 90Phagnalon melanoleucumAsteraceae 91Phoenix atlanticaArecaceae 92Pluchea bravaeAsteraceae 93Polycarpaea gayiCaryophyllaceae 94Pulicaria burchardiiAsteraceae 95Pulicaria diffusaAsteraceae 96Sarcostemma daltoniisyn. of Cynanchum daltoniiApocynaceae 97Satureja forbesiiLamiaceae 98Sideroxylon marmulana var. marginataSapotaceae 99Sinapidendron decumbensBrassicaceae 100Sonchus daltoniiAsteraceae 101Sporobolus minutus subsp. confertusPoaceae 102Stachytarpheta cayennensisUrticaceae 103Stoechas rotundifoliaLamiaceae 104Tephrosia gorgoneaFabaceae 105Tithymalus tuckeyanusEuphorbiaceae 106Tolpis farinulosaAsteraceae 107Tolpis glanduliferaAsteraceae 108Tornabenea annua Apiaceae 109Tornabenea bischoffiiApiaceae 110Tornabenea humilisApiaceae 111Tornabenea insularisApiaceae 112Tornabenea tenuissimaApiaceae 113Umbilicus schmidtiiCrassulaceae 114Verbascum caboverdeanumScrophulariaceae 115Verbascum capitis-viridisScrophulariaceae 116Verbascum cystolithicumScrophulariaceae
Extinct flora SpeciesFamilyStachytarpheta fallax VerbenaceaeHabenaria petromedusa Orchidaceae
See also Wildlife of Cape Verde
References
Sources Cape Verdean Endemic Plants
Further reading Brochmann, C., Rustan, O. H., Lobin, W. & Kilian, N. 1997. The endemic vascular plants of the Cape Verde Islands, W Africa. Sommerfeltia, 24: 1–356. Isildo Gomes et al., Endemic plants and indigenous trees of the Cape Verde islands, Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Fishery and the Projects "Conservation and Exploration of the Natural Resources on the Island Fogo" (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeitand) and « Conservation of Biodiversity », 2003, p. 36 Duarte, M. C., Rego, F., Romeiras, M. M. & Moreira, I. 2008. Plant species richness in the Cape Verde Islands — eco-geographical determinants. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17: 453–466. Sunding, P. 1973. Endemism in the flora of the Cape Verde Islands, with special emphasis on the macaronesian flora elements. Monogr. Biol. Canar. 4: 112–117.
External links Cabo Verde // Living National Treasures Endemic plants of the Cape Verde Islands Les îles du Cap Vert : géographie, biogéographie, agriculture. Flore de l'archipel. Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, laboratoire d'agronomie coloniale, Paris 1935. (available on pdf via Tela Botanica) Endemic Plants and Indigenous Trees of Cape Verde (Plantas endémicas e árvores indígenas de Cabo Verde)