Cabezón de El Fraile (Cheirolophus burchardii)

Highly branched shrub up to 1.5 m, with a woody base. Leaves more or less lanceolate, light green, with entire or slightly serrate margins. Flowers are pale mauve or pinkish. Endemic to Tenerife, it was previously considered a variety of Cheirolophus canariensis, a species from which it is distinguished for having entire leaves (pinnatisect in C. canariensis), among other reasons. Only found in a sector of Teno massif, between El Fraile and Punta de Teno, where it grows on coastal shelves and rocky-stony cliffs, between 20 and 200 m above sea level. Although the plant is protected by Teno Rural Park, it is classified as vulnerable, particularly because distribution is so limited. As with other species of Cheirolophus, it has considerable potential as an ornamental plant and forms part of the Rubiflorae section of the genus.