“Nineteenth-century writers bestowed many fanciful names on Madeira to describe the island`s botanical wealth – “a floating greenhouse” and “God`s botanical garden” being among them. The first seeds were probably carried by oceanic currents from West Africa, or reached Madeira in bird droppings. Thriving in the island`s fertile volcanic soil, species evolved that are unique to the island . Early settlers may have destroyed many more plants as they slashed and burned the island`s dense vegetation. Zarco ordered the island`s woods to be set alight , and such was the ferocity of the resulting blaze that the explorers were driven to their ships, eventually being forced to put out to sea to escape the heat.” (pg. 35)
“Essential Madeira” (2001) Hampshire: AA Publishing
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