XVI International Botanical Congess

The Canary Islands includes approximately 514 endemic plant species distributed on seven islands that range in age between 0.8 to 21 million years old. The northeast trade winds, combined with altitudinal gradients, have produced five distinctive ecological zones. Molecular phylogenies for endemic groups from several angiosperm families indicate that the flora is predominantly Mediterraneaen and north African in origin. There are a few notable exceptions of biogeographic links with northern Europe and North America. Unlike most oceanic islands, adaptive radiation is not the predominant mode of species diversification. The most common pattern is inter-island colonization between similar ecological zones followed by morphological differentiation.