Floreana Island

Today in the afternoon we visited Point Cormorant, located in the northeastern part of Floreana Island. Among many interesting and beautiful plants that are seen there, one in particular, the "Galapagos carpetweed" (Sesuvium edmonstonei) is a favorite of all due to its spectacular color. This plant, which lives close to the shoreline on sandy beaches, occupies a very important vegetation zone of the archipelago called littoral or coastal zone. Like many of the plants that live in this zone, Galapagos carpetweeds must be able to survive in a salt-rich environment. Thick and succulent salty leaves help the plant to resist the intense drought of this zone. The color of the leaves changes from green through yellow to red with changing seasons. Towards the end of the dry season and during the cool season this species form bright red, weedy mats in areas close to shore, thus its common name. In the picture of today we can admire the exquisite beauty of this plant that is related to sea purslane, some of which are known as ice plants.