Armeria pubigera

Perennial of the Plumbaginaceae family, Armeria pubigera is an endemic species of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, mainly distributed in Galicia and northern Portugal. It colonizes low coastal lawns, granite outcrops, coastal heaths swept by wind and sea spray, from sea level to the first heights overlooking the ocean.

Seen from afar, in its natural environment, the plant can easily be mistaken for Armeria maritima: it forms the same dense and flowering mats that invade promontories and rocky islets, sometimes covering considerable areas with the same pale pink to white-pink. It is one of the most characteristic images of the Galician coasts at the time of flowering, with rocks gilded by yellow lichens and the Atlantic sky as a backdrop.

Closer up, the differences are evident. The leaves are shorter and wider than those of A. maritima, rigid, arranged in well-marked starry rosettes, slightly pubescent, with a matte gray-green color. The capitula, borne on stems 15 to 30 cm high, are modest in size, pale pink to almost white, and take on very characteristic straw-beige hues as they age. In its natural environment, its flowering extends from May to July.