I’ve really enjoyed growing the Gibraltar native plants this year as part of our Conservation work at Gibraltar Wildlife. in this post I’ll share a few of these native plants. Firstly, we have the Melancholy toadflax, Linaria tristis from seed. The common name is a reference to the species name (specific epithet) ‘tristis’ which means sad in latin. I find the purplish-brown veined flowers quite the opposite of sad and rather fascinating.
Gibraltar candytuft, Iberis gibraltarica is only found in Gibraltar in Europe and North Africa. It is very rarely seen in cultivation. This plant is growing in a wall under the sculpture of the celebrated Head Gardener, horticulturalist and garden designer; Giuseppe Cordali (1847-1917) at Gibraltar Botanic Gardens ‘The Alameda’ . The last shot is of the Gibraltarian endemic plants, including Iberis gibraltarica, we are propagating in the Nursery.
Lastly, The Gibraltarian endemics.
There are two species endemic vascular plant species; the first Silene tomentosa, the Gibraltar campion, (seen above left in the nursery) has grown really well from seed. it seems to need to be kept on the dry side during the winter. The photo below shows the Gibraltar campion flowering on the GBG Rock Garden.
The other endemic species, which we have yet to propagate is Cerastium gibraltaricum, the Gibraltar chickweed. Below it was photographed flowering on the Upper Rock. There are also some endemic subspecies, but I’ll leave them for another post sometime.
Cerastium gibraltaricum
My Wardian Case 