Estremaduran Landscape

Physiographic maps like that posted 17 February use shades of green for low elevations and grays for higher. This gives the mistaken impression the Estremadura is a great, fertile basin. It’s not. All those mountain ranges prevent water from flowing into the area.

Badajoz gets 18.2 inches of rain a year, with most of it falling in winter. That’s more than the twelve we get here. All that granite and granite debris support thin acid soils, unlike the alkaline ones we have here.

Nature has responded to the Estremadura’s Mediterranean climate with trees that have wide branching habits, extensive root systems, and leaves that fall in summer. The one provides shade that slows evaporation. The second holds dry soil from blowing away and traps water wherever it lands. The third carpets the ground in summer, at the same time it reduces stress on defoliating plants.

At one time, the Estremadura was covered by woodland. The most common landscape today is the bosque Mediterráneo dominated by encina, live oaks (Quercus rotundifolia). Oliver Rackham says the species is so variable no two are alike genetically.

The oak survives fire and cutting. For centuries its branches were lopped in March and April and burned to make charcoal. The constant trimming increased the acorn crop that was eaten by livestock. The bark was used to tan leather.

The one thing encina doesn’t like is constant browsing. When oaks die back, the dehesa expands, with one kind of grass growing under the trees and another in the open. The primary wild plants are winter annuals that bloom in spring, purple viper’s bugloss, tolpis, andryala, corn marigold, and yellow chamomile. The first is a borage, the rest members of the composite family. The open pasture or savannah supports cattle and cereal production.

When trees are felled in large numbers, dense scrub intrudes. Brooms (Cistus), lavenders, mastics (Pistacia lentiscus), and strawberries trees (Arbutus unedo) thrive. The first are rock roses, the second mints. The third is a member of the cashew family, and the last a heather.

When that second generation protective scrub is removed, single species like brambles, heathers and gorse advance. These are more tolerant of drought, poor soils, and brush fires.

Along the mountainous perimeter, deciduous trees grow in the bosque de montaña. Melojos (Quercus pyrenaica) are most common, but there also are chestnut groves and clumps of Portuguese oak (Quercus faginea).

Near the Tagus and its more permanent tributaries riparian species grow. In the higher elevations, the bosque en galería sports willows, osiers, and alders. Aspen and ashes replace them at lower levels. In the lower bosque de ribera bushes, oleanders, tamujo brooms (Flueggea tinctoria), and vines grow under elms.

To the south, where the climate is warmer, cork oak (Quercus suber) grows in the protection of the mountain ranges. It requires more moisture than the live oak, but has a unique way of surviving fires. It grows a thicker bark than other plants.

Notes:
Grove, A. T. and Oliver Rackham. The Nature of Mediterranean Europe, 2001.

Instituto de Educación Secundaria les Dr. Fernández Santana. "Vegetation of Extremadura," school web site.S

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