These laurels are hardy Oct 19, 2021

These laurels are hardy

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.

© Val Thoermer/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Oct 19, 2018Portland celebrates its bounty
Oct 19, 2020A cliff-hanging complex of temples
Oct 19, 2022Wartburg Castle overlooking Thuringian Forest in Germany
Oct 19, 2023Mekong River Delta, Long An, Vietnam
Oct 19, 2024International Archaeology Day
Oct 19, 2025Apples ready for harvest in Minnesota

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jun 16, 2021Put your flippers in the air…
Jan 17, 2023Muniellos Nature Reserve
Aug 30, 2019It s fair season
Jun 13, 2023Okefenokee Swamp
Jul 23, 2025Vatican City with St. Peters Basilica
Aug 5, 2019A ‘Superior’ paddle
Apr 5, 2020The frog prince?
Jan 27, 2018Bioluminescence at Trwyn Du Lighthouse in Wales
Apr 21, 2020Where do those colors come from?
Sep 16, 2025Nighttime view over the Gulf Coast
May 14, 2022Windmills in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands
Dec 6, 2024Finnish Independence Day
May 21, 2022Albion Falls, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Jan 30, 2021Even nature needs a backup plan…
Mar 6, 2025Desert bighorn sheep in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
Aug 24, 2025European fallow deer in England
Aug 11, 2021Everyone s watching the Perseids
Nov 30, 2025Christmas market in Leipzig, Germany
Jan 18, 2020Sands of time
Nov 27, 2025Happy Thanksgiving!
Jul 22, 2023National Hammock Day
Jan 2, 2022Prague, Czech Republic
May 8, 2021World Migratory Bird Day
Nov 14, 2018Monet still makes an impression
Nov 14, 2020Decorating for Diwali
Oct 21, 2021Here s looking Atchafalaya
Nov 20, 2025World Childrens Day
Jul 28, 2019Road-trip worthy attraction in the heartland
Mar 12, 2023Lucian Blaga National Theater, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Jun 10, 2020The Millennium at 20