Saladillo blanco común (Polycarpaea nivea)

Plant with a woody base, sometimes scrambling or slightly ascending. Leaves small (up to 1 cm long), lanceolate to ovate, very fleshy, pubescent, greyish-green or silvery-green. Inflorescences are terminal and many-flowered; flowers are small and whitish-yellow. This halophyte or halo-psammophile is sometimes found in ruderal habitats, as it grows easily in disturbed ground. It is locally common in low-lying coastal areas of the Canaries and Cape Verde and also in neighbouring parts of continental Africa (Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania). It often extends inland, generally on sand dunes and sandy stony flatlands. Distribution in the Canaries encompasses El Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, as well as several islets (Alegranza, Montaña Clara, La Graciosa and Lobos), although sightings in El Hierro and La Palma might be mistaken. In Cape Verde, it appears on all the islands except for São Nicolau, Santiago and Brava.