The Parque Central de Arona is a public park of 42,000 square metres in

Arona, Tenerife Arona is a municipality in the southern part of the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spanish region and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. The municipality covers an area of 81.79 square kilometres comprising 4% of the is ...

, in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. It is made up of several squares and gardens in the tourist centre of Playa de las Americas. The park, which opened in 2004, was commissioned by the

Cabildo de Tenerife Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (Island Council of Tenerife) is the governing body of the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands). It was established on 16 March 1913 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in a session held by the City Council. It was, at that time ...

and designed by GBGV Architects (Architect Jorge Mosquera Paniagua) and the botanist Carlo Morici. The park displays the native flora of the Canary Islands. Walkways are lined with

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs ...

and

macadamia ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...

trees. A third of the area is covered with over 40 species of

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

s intermingled with

tropical vegetation Tropical vegetation is any vegetation in tropical latitudes. Plant life that occurs in climates that are warm year-round is in general more biologically diverse that in other latitudes. Some tropical areas may receive abundant rain the whole ye ...

. The family Bombaceae is well represented by ''

Chorisia speciosa ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to N Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, la ...

'', ''

Bombax ceiba ''Bombax ceiba'', like other trees of the genus ''Bombax'', is commonly known as cotton tree. More specifically, it is sometimes known as Malabar silk-cotton tree; red silk-cotton; red cotton tree; or ambiguously as silk-cotton or kapok, both of ...

'', ''

Ceiba pentandra ''Ceiba pentandra'' is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety ''C. pentandr ...

'', and several baobabs, including ''

Adansonia digitata ''Adansonia digitata'', the African baobab, is the most widespread tree species of the genus ''Adansonia'', the baobabs, and is native to the African continent and the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman). These are long-lived pachycauls; ra ...

'' and '' A. grandidieri''. Morici designed an environmental reconstruction of the endangered Canarian coastal scrub, typically characterized by ''

Euphorbia balsamifera ''Euphorbia balsamifera'' (balsam spurge) is a flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is distributed in the Canary Islands and the western Sahara. It is the vegetable symbol of the island of Lanzarote. '' Euphorbia adenensis'' ...

'' and ''

Euphorbia canariensis ''Euphorbia canariensis'', commonly known as the Canary Island spurge, Hercules club or in Spanish ''cardón'', is a succulent member of the genus ''Euphorbia'' and family Euphorbiaceae endemic to the Canary Islands. It is the plant symbol of t ...

''. Other trees include the official tree of Arona, ''

Pistacia atlantica ''Pistacia atlantica'' is a species of pistachio tree known by the English common name Mt. Atlas mastic tree, Atlas pistachio, Atlantic pistacio, Atlantic terebinth, Cyprus turpentine tree, and Persian turpentine tree. ''P. atlantica'' has thre ...

'',

dragon trees A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

, and the

Canary Island Date Palm ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm or pineapple palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true dat ...

(''Phoenix canariensis'').

External links

Inauguration of the first phase of the Park Arona
SPANISH, (2002-05-16)

SPANISH, (2003-12-01)

References

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