Go back 15 million years and you"d find most of Southern Europe looking like this fantasy forest: thick, scrubby underbrush canopied by wizened laurel trees. An epoch or two of human agricultural advances cleared those ancient woods, but patches persist on a few temperate Atlantic islands—especially here on Madeira, a Portuguese-held island off northwest Africa.
These laurels are hardy
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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In the path of the pronghorn
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International Polar Bear Day
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Smoking nights in Austria
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Siblings that play together…
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The Millennium at 20
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What are we looking at?
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A hit ballet, long after its debut
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Cue up the tango music
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Frankenstein Friday
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Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away
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The frog prince?
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Feast of the Donkey
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There’s a dog in there somewhere
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Native American Heritage Day
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Birds and bees, and why they re so important
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National Love a Tree Day
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Adorably evolutionary sea sheep
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Wicker fields in Cañamares, Spain
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Wild scene on the Merced River
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Celebrating Chile’s Independence Day
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Let’s have a ball
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Amphitheatre of El Jem, Tunisia
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A viewer with a view
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Dancing waters of Dubai
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Galeries Lafayette, Paris
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Honoring the fallen
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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
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Uncommon clouds are gathering
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Point Reyes National Seashore
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Celebrating World Water Day