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Breña y Marismas de Barbate Natural Park - Flora
The Breña pine forest is made up mainly of umbrella pines (pinus pinea) planted in the late 19th century. There is a significant population of the endangered prickly juniper (juniperus oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa), the second largest area of this juniper in Andalucia after the Doñana National Park.
The umbrella pines have an undergrowth of characteristic Mediterranean scrubland, dominated by Phoenician juniper (juniperus phoenicea), wild olive trees (olea europaea silvestris), dwarf fan palms (chamaerops humilis), retama (retama monosperma) and myrtle (myrtus communis).
On the beaches are marram grass (ammophila arenaria) and sea daffodils (pancratium maritimum), with its attractive white flowers. Salt spray on the cliffs means that there are halophyte plants here typical of salt marshes, like barilla (salsola soda) and glasswort (salicornia ramossissima).
Between Caños de Meca and Torre del Tajo along the cliffs are Aleppo pines (pinus halepensis) and Mediterranean scrub with laurestinus (viburnum tinus), lentisc (pistacia lentiscus) and strawberry trees (arbutus unedo).
The part of the marismas in the tidal zone are colonised by cord grass (spartina maritima), perennial glasswort (sarcocornia perennis) and sea purslane (halimione portulacoides). On the higher ground are limoniastrum monopelatum, arthrocnemum macrostachyum and limonium ferulaceum. The marismas are particularly attractive in the autumn, when the plants flower and turn red and orange.
