According to scientist Jose Luis Martin Esquivel, the Canary Islands have more than 4,000 endemic animal and plant species, 40 times that of all of Great Britain. There are 400 native plant species alone. Esquivel advises the regional government in environmental issues. Some plant species are found only on this island group. The islands' rich soil allows for cash crops of coffee, tomatoes, oranges, dates and bananas to be grown in lower elevations. In slightly higher elevations, grapes, grain and potatoes are cultivated.
Some specimens of the native dragon tree (Dracaena drago) are believed to be from five to 10 centuries old. In the early 1500s, Spanish conquerors established sugar cane as the sole cash crop of the islands. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the British encouraged the growth of bananas as an agricultural export. Charles Darwin recognized the ecological diversity of the Canary Islands and desired to visit them in the 1830s, but he was diverted to the Galapagos Islands when he was assigned to the HMS Beagle.
The Canary Islands are in the Atlantic Ocean, about 70 miles from the southwestern shores of Morocco. The seven islands were formed from volcanic action and have a sub-tropical climate. Four of Spain's nature reserves are located in the Canary Island group. One of the islands, Gomera, is the site of the Parque Nacional de Garajonay which protects an ancient laurel forest. Gran Canaria, a major tourist island, has an abundance of endemic plant species.
The mountainous regions of the Canary Islands are home to species like the shrub Erysimum scoparium and the Canary pine. Candelabra spurge and the borage plant Tajinaste populate rocky regions which receive less rain. Canary holly lives in the laurel forests of Gomera. In semi-desert areas of the islands, balsamic spurge and Canary palm flourish. The island of Lanzarote has a number of varieties of spurges and mosses and the Canary houseleek as well as a large population of Canary palms. Twenty plant species are native to Lanzarote.
The regional environmental protection organization recognizes the threat invasive species are posing for endemic species on the Canary Islands. Some invasive species destroy native plants like the Canary date palm while others cross-pollinate with endemic plant varieties to produce hybrids. Most of the endangered species on the Canary Islands are native plant populations. One of these endangered species is the Canary Island woody sow-thistle, found in only two places on the island of El Hierro.
