Either a lesson that you need to visit at the correct time of year to see the plants or that the Algarve is not very exciting anyway - any comments?
The Algarve is on the south coast of Portugal and has an Atlantic not Mediterranean coastline. I had heard that the area was green and pleasant and worth visiting for wildlife at any time of year. However on a trip in November there were virtually no native plant species in flower and few birds or other types of wildlife in evidence. Indeed the main impressions were of empty golden sand beaches, endless golf courses and sterile eucalyptus plantations. In the more hilly areas inland there were fine carefully harvested cork oaks (Quercus suber)[below] and stands of native forest and scrub with abundant strawberry trees (Arbutus undeo) in full fruit.
Either a lesson that you need to visit at the correct time of year to see the plants or that the Algarve is not very exciting anyway - any comments?
Further reading suggests that some of the areas visited such as Cape St. Vincent are carpeted with wildflowers in spring.
Flowers of South-West Europe (1973). Polunin, O. and Smythies, B. E. 480p. Oxford University press, London. Approximately 400 plant photographs. Useful sections on landform, climate and vegetation of the area, more detailed sections on the plant hunting regions, then the main flora. Mainly covers Spain, Portugal, Balearics and S.W. France.