Buxo da rocha (Maytenus umbellata)

Dense, highly branched shrub, up to 2.5 m tall (sometimes more), perennial, the main trunk and branches ash-grey to chestnut. Leaves are leathery, elliptic, margins somewhat crenate, varying in size (2-7 x 1-3.5 cm). Flowers are numerous, greenish-yellow, small and arranged in racemes. Fruits are globose, yellowish when ripe and roughly 1 cm in diameter. A native of the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo and the Desertas. This currently rare rupicolous plant grows on coastal cliffs, ravine walls and inland crags, from sea level to 400 m. Typical of thermophile vegetation, it is closely related to M. canariensis, which must have been a significant feature of low-lying areas in the past.