Madeira globularia
Globularia salicina
Family · Plantaginaceae · Harmless
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The cliff shrub of Madeira and the Canaries, with leathery spoon-shaped leaves and heads of lilac-blue flowers in a ball, which is what gives the genus its name.
Scrubland · Walls and rocks · Dunes and sand · Uplands
Also known aswillow-leaved globularia
How to tell it
A shrub to two metres, much branched. Alternate, leathery leaves shaped like a spoon or a willow leaf, dark green and glossy, without teeth. Spherical flower heads one to two centimetres, lilac-blue or whitish, at the branch ends. Range: Madeira and the Canaries.
What it is confused with
Shrubby globularia
Globularia alypum
The blue flower balls are the same. The mainland one has small leaves with three teeth at the tip and belongs to southern limestone scrub; the Madeiran has large entire spoon-shaped leaves. Neither is dangerous.
Open sheet →What it is for
Traditional medicinal use in Madeira, as an infusion. Traditional use, in the past. It is worth it above all as one of the few woody plants that stands salt-exposed cliffs.