Genista

Genista spartioides ssp. retamoides

Genista is a genus of legumes which includes many species of broom. Many of these brooms are notorious as noxious weeds. Many of the species have flowers that open explosively when alighted on by an insect, the style flying through the upper seam of the keel and striking the underside of the insect, followed by a shower of pollen that coats the insect. The Royal line of Plantagenet is derived from this genus, being a corruption of “planta genista”.

Century plant

Agave americana

This is an agave originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It was introduced into Europe about the middle of the 16th century and it has since naturalised in many regions and grows wild in SE Iberian Peninsula. The name "century plant" refers to the long time the plant takes to flower. Tequila is made from certain species of agave.

Butterworts

Pinguicula mundi

Pinguicula is a genus of carnivorous plants that use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they obtain from the environments. It grows on vertical and wet walls and it is an endemic species in the south of Albacete province.

Maltese fungus

Cynomorium coccineum

It is a parasitic perennial flowering plant in the Cynomoriaceae, a family consisting of only one (or perhaps two) species. A rare or local species, it grows in dry, rocky or sandy soils, often in salt marches or other saline habitats.

Earth Day 2012

Earth Day is a day early each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day. Earth Day is planned for April 22 in all years at least through 2015.

Moving

Esparto grass

Stipa tenacissima

Lygeum spartum

Stipa tenacissima is a perennial grass grown in northwest Africa and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula employed for crafts (cords, baskets, espadrilles, etc. It is also used for fiber production for paper making.). Lygeum spartum, another species of grass, is also used in combination with true esparto, and is also sometimes called "esparto grass" or albardine. In the last century the manufacture of esparto was very important in Hellín.

Earth Hour 2012

This Earth Hour 2012: 8.30pm, Saturday 31 March, celebrate your action for the planet with the people of world by switching off your lights for an hour, then go beyond the hour.

From its inception as a single-city initiative -- Sydney, Australia - in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global symbol of hope and movement for change. Earth Hour 2011 created history as the world's largest ever voluntary action with people, businesses and governments in 135 countries across every continent coming together to celebrate an unambiguous commitment to the one thing that unites us all -- the planet.

Nature of Lithuania

Cancarix volcano

Cancarix volcano is a natural monument, located in "Sierra de las Cabras", in the hamlet of Cancarix near Hellin (Albacete, Spain). It is a volcanic vent of the Pliocene, which solidified but has been exposed as a result of erosion for millennia.

Cancarix volcano

Basalt columns

Teachers and pupils at the foot of the volcano

Source of Mundo River (Spain)

Mundo is a river which starts near Riópar, in south-eastern Spain. It flows into the river Segura near Hellín. You are invited to see it...

Carpathian Mountains (Romania)

From left to right: Rasit, Rocío, Ibrahim and Melike

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly 1,500 km (932 mi) long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe (after the Scandinavian Mountains, 1,700 km (1,056 mi)). They provide the habitat for the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes, with the highest concentration in Romania, as well as over one third of all European plant species. The word "Carpathian" is derived from Thracian Greek Καρπάτῆς όρος (Karpates oros), meaning "rocky mountain", probably via German Karpathen and Latin Carpatus. Its earlier origins are unclear. The name Karpates may ultimately be from the Proto Indo-European root *sker-/*ker-, from which comes the Albanian word karpë (rock), and the Slavic word skála (rock, cliff), perhaps via a Dacian cognate which meant mountain, rock or rugged (Wikipedia).

Romania: cities, culture, landscapes, traditions, gastronomy...

Si pulsas AQUÍ accederás a un interesante blog sobre este país europeo.

If you click HERE you can see an interesting blog about Romania.

Voronet monastery