Scalesia in the Crater

Explanation: Here, on Santa Cruz Island of the Galapagos Archipelago of Ecuador, spreads a somewhat tangled woodland of Scalesia trees. With thin, towering trunks, this a member of the Asteraceae family, which we commonly relate to flowering daisies. But a daisy this is not, although it has been referred to as the Giant Daisy Tree.

This genus -- Scalesia -- is found only on a few of the Galapagos Islands, and here this genus consists of 21 species and subspecies of trees and shrubs, a nice example of local adaptive radiation of many forms arising from a common source.

This particular Scalesia tree species reaches about 15-20 m (50-65 ft) in height and occurs in the aptly-named Scalesia (Vegetation) Zone on the islands. It grows on rich soil, so much of these woodlands had been cleared for agricultural use.

The largely unbranched trunks are often covered by moss and vines epiphytes. And the canopies form umbrella-like spreads like a flower head.

So here we are on Santa Cruz Island, on the very edge of a steep and deep crater known as the Los Gemelos Sinkhole, a volcanic sinkhole pit.

The "giant daisy tree" here rings the edge of the crater ... and also covers some of the deeper slopes within the pit.

These scalesia forests are considered endangered, given their removal history.
They do provide some key habitat for tortoises, other plants, some of Darwin's finches, and more.
An ongoing restoration project to protect and bring back these woodlands are active on four major islands of the region.

Information:
Fitter, J., D. Fitter, and D. Hosking. 2007. Wildlife of Galápagos. HarperCollins Publisher, London. 256 pp.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week