FLORA Y FAUNA. Gladiolo y Urogallo

The Flora and Fauna series is on this occasion devoted to the Gladiolus and the Capercaillie.

The Galdiolus is a bulbous perennial plant belonging to the family of the Iridaceae and the Gladiolus genus which contains about 250 species mainly native to southern Africa although some species are also native to Eurasia. They measure from 60 to 180 cm long and their leaves are narrow, sword-shaped, longitudinal, grooved and enclosed in a sheath. They flower in the summer and autumn though in warm climates they grow all year round. Flowers are variously coloured ranging from white to cream, yellow, red and purple. The fragrant flower spikes are large and one-sided, with 12 to 20 bisexual flowers, each subtended by 2 leathery, green bracts. The fruit is inside a capsule containing many winged brown seeds. Gladioli are cultivated for ornamental purposes during the spring from rounded, symmetrical corms.

The Capercaillie or Wood Grouse (Tetrao urogallus), is a bird from the family of the Tetraonidae and the order of the Galliformes. It is one the largest members of the grouse family, reaching over 1 meter in length for the males and 0.70 cm the females. Both have feathers under their beaks resembling a beard and a bright red spot of naked skin above each eye and fanned tail feathers. They breed in old coniferous forests with a rich interior structure and dense ground vegetation under a light canopy. In Spain they can be found in the Cantabria region and the Pyrenees. They are an endangered species whose courting season goes from March to mid May. During this period they gurgle and wheeze to attract the hens and begin copulation. Hens lay from five to twelve eggs in a hole on the ground providing an easy target for predators such as boars, dogs and weasels hence only a few chicks reach the adult age and thus the population decline.