JBCLM | 2010-2026
17 and 18. Oleander with jasmine and tamarisk with chaste tree
This flora appears in seasonal watercourses in the southern and southeastern extremes of the region.
Oleander (Nerium oleander) formations are characteristic of dry or semi-arid areas below 700 m elevation in the southern and southeastern parts of Castilla-La Mancha. They occur along rocky riverbeds, streams, and ephemeral channels with highly irregular water flow.
Oleander groves have great landscape value, particularly during their vibrant summer flowering. They also help stabilize stream and ephemeral riverbeds in arid regions.
The collection includes oleanders, wild or Moorish jasmine (Jasminum fruticans), shrubby bupleurum (Bupleurum fruticosum), traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba), ivy (Hedera helix), and licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), a plant traditionally used to impart sweet and aniseed flavors in cooking and as a chewing stick (paloduz).
At higher elevations, a small grove of tamarisks (Tamarix) and chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus), a shrub with beautiful spring flowering that grows in the western parts of the region, has been recreated.
