We all love to travel to places where unique plants and animals thrive. We seek the exceptional. In biology, living things that are confined to a certain geographical region are referred to as endemic, meaning that they exist nowhere else on earth. But we often forget the conditions necessary for endemism to arise. Take a plant seed that through a lucky coincidence arrives to a remote island. It's a cold, rainy and hostile world and most of the newcomers die quickly. But then there are those pioneers, sturdy enough to survive and slowly adapt to the new conditions. This is the beginning of a new species finding novel and often surprisingly beautiful ways to display its standing in the new world. From isolation and deprivation arises the diversity of life.
The following picture shows 'Echium wildpretii', endemic to Tenerife island's Teide national park at an altitude above 2000 m.
And me walking through this alien world.
Unique indeed, beautiful!
Upvoted! Greetings from the neighbour island Lanzarote :-)