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In the Gardens

Bear’s Breech

Acanthus mollis

Bloom time

From May to July.

Characteristics

The herbal plant develops candle-shaped inflorescences that grow up to 1 m (3,3‘) tall. The tongue-shaped single blooms are whitish with pur-ple veins. The superior lobe of the calyx is remarkably enlarged. The large, dark green leaves are strongly lobed and have substantial leaf veins.

Site:

You will mostly find Bear’s Breech in gardens in the south of the island, up to an altitude of 600 m (655 yd.). It often grows wild along streets or levadas. You can see numerous specimens in the Palheiro Gardens at the entrance to the Camellia Avenue. You will also encounter it in Camacha.

Interesting to know:

The Bear’s Breech is native to the Mediterra-nean region and Asia Minor. As those of the Spiny Bear’s Breech (Acanthus spinosus), its leaves served as models for the ornaments at the pillar capitals of the Corinthian temple in ancient Greek. Later this symbol of fertil-ity was taken over by the Romans. Since the 15th century it has been picked up again and again in European architecture. On Madei-ra you may often find it in form of ceramic sculptures on the corners of old houses’ tiled roofs. They symbolize the large number of chil-dren that shall be bestowed upon the family.

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