Bramble Thickets

Pine Forest

Fields and Paths

Walls

Holm Oak Wood

Wild Olive Scrub and Garrigue

Streams and Wetlands

Bramble Thickets

Walking along the paths of our municipality, we will easily discover, on the margins and uncultivated areas, a group of thorny plants that weave dense bramble thickets. We find shrubs of the rose family, such as blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) or bramble (Rubus ulmifolius). The other type of plants found here are lianas and climbers, such as common smilax (Smilax aspera), wild madder (Rubia peregrina), honeysuckle (Lonicera implexa), old man's beard (Clematis vitalba) or fragrant virgin's bower (Clematis flammula).

Pine Forest

The predominant forest in our surroundings is pine forest. This type of woodland is made up mainly of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), one of the most abundant trees in the Balearic Islands, which, thanks to its ability to adapt to any type of terrain, has gradually taken over the spaces once occupied by holm oak woods.

Human intervention in the Mallorcan Pla has been transforming the landscape, creating farmland and pastures that have pushed back the holm oak woods, opening the way for pine forests and scrubland, which, favoured by warmer and sunnier environmental conditions, have gradually occupied the space.

Fields and Paths

A walk in full spring is an experience that stimulates all the senses; the floral richness found in the fields and paths appears in a wide variety of colours and shapes. In spring, the pink tones of mallows (Malva spp.), the yellows of Dalechamp's hawksbeard (Urospermum dalechampii), the whites and yellows of crown daisies (Chrysanthemum coronarium), the blues of Arabian pea (Bituminaria bituminosa) and the reds of common poppies (Papaver rhoeas) stand out. Come summer, contrasting with the golden fields, the large umbels of wild carrot (Daucus carota), the flower heads of sweet scabious (Scabiosa atropurpurea), or the bellflowers of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) stand out.

Walls

If we look closely at the walls along the paths and the walls of buildings, we will see that these too are habitats that, given a certain set of conditions, can shelter life.

This life is possible thanks to the peat-like matter that accumulates in the cracks of the rocks. We find succulent plants such as stonecrops (Sedum spp.) or navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris) on the dry-stone walls along our paths. We can also find pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaica) or Cymbalaria aequitriloba. The most striking, however, are the ferns, such as the southern polypody (Polypodium cambricum) or maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris), which live in shady, cool spots, such as the rims of cisterns.

Holm Oak Wood

The holm oak wood is the most characteristic forest on our island. It is an area covered mainly by holm oaks (Quercus ilex), evergreen trees whose dense branches create a cool, shady, humid microclimate — conditions that favour the build-up of humus.

The holm oak wood is considered a climax habitat in Mallorca. If humans did not interfere with nature, plants would develop until they formed this type of habitat, which, favoured by environmental conditions, would occupy most of the island's interior.

As understorey species we find shrubs such as butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus), a protected plant on our islands, the climbing common smilax (Smilax aspera), the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus), endemic species such as the Balearic cyclamen (Cyclamen balearicum), or mushrooms such as Russula insignis.

Wild Olive Scrub and Garrigue

Wild olive scrub is a habitat dominated by shrubs, such as the wild olive (Olea europaea var. sylvestris), a space that has often been degraded by humans, giving rise to garrigue. Garrigue vegetation forms in areas with high sun exposure, warm and dry places, where mainly two trees predominate: the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) and the wild olive (Olea europaea var. sylvestris). We find shrubby understorey species such as Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), autumn heather (Erica multiflora), grey-leaved cistus (Cistus albidus) or Montpellier cistus (Cistus monspeliensis). We can also find various species of bee orchid (Ophrys spp.) and the largest orchid on the islands, the giant orchid (Barlia robertiana).

Streams and Wetlands

There are three streams that cross the Sencelles municipality, along which, in rainy periods, water flows. These are the Solleric stream, the Pina or Montuïri stream, and the Almedrà stream.

The vegetation found in these habitats is very different from that of the rest of the landscape, since the microclimate created by the shade of the trees and the humidity favours the presence of characteristic plants such as the narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus angustifolia), thorny shrubs such as the evergreen rose (Rosa sempervirens), rush (Scirpus holoschoenus), or herbaceous plants such as broadleaf plantain (Plantago major), pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) or hemlock (Conium maculatum). It is common to find exotic species adapted to this habitat, such as the perennial herb Phyla filiformis or the castor bean plant (Ricinus communis).