Mocán, mocanera (Visnea mocanera)

Evergreen tree that can grow up to 15 m tall, branches more or less horizontal or sometimes pendulous. Leaves are ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, rather tough, dark green, up to 6 cm long, margins dentate-serrate. Flowers are bell-shaped, creamy-white and are solitary or small clusters. Edible fruits (known locally as yoyas), globose and blackish-purple when ripe. The pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the Canaries would make a kind of beverage known as chacerquén or checerquén, regarded as a medicinal panacea. This species is native to Madeira and the Canaries. Characteristic of thermophile forests and the driest variants of evergreen woods, it grows from 200-1,000 m and can be locally common or even dominant in certain sectors. Found on Madeira and all the Canary Islands, except Lanzarote, it is extremely rare in Fuerteventura (Jandía massif) and uncommon in Gran Canaria, where it is scattered along the north-facing flank.