Life Canal de Castilla

Plant species

A total of 234 species of plants, grouped into three divisions of flora, have been described in the ponds that festoon the Canal de Castilla: obligate hydrophytic flora, represented by completely aquatic plants; facultative hydrophytic flora, which includes plants that develop in areas with variable flooding; and the arboreal and arbustive vegetation that is part of the meadows surrounding the ponds and edging the wetlands.

The hydrophytes include taxa that have been catalogued as of national interest due to their rarity or degree of endangerment in Spain, such as Nitella mucronata and Hippuris vulgaris. These ponds are one of the main enclaves of species like Potamogeton lucens, Ceratophyllunm demersum, Myriophyllum verticillatum or Utricularia australis in the Iberian Peninsula.

Not only is the aquatic flora representative of these marsh ecosystems, but also large extensions of helophytes, such as Phragmites australis reed beds, Typha latifolia and Typha domingensis bulrushes and Scirpus lacustris sedges. On the other hand, sedge communities, represented by Carex riparia, Carex divisa, Carex cupra, etc., and diverse species of bulrushes like Scirpus holoschoenus, Juncus inflexus, Eleocharis palustris and others develop. Different species of grasses and avens proliferate around the ponds and enhance the diversity of the wetland vegetation.

Finally, the ponds of the Canal are skirted by linear formations of different species of trees and bushes that form small copses on the bank. These stands are dominated by various species of willow, such as Salix alba or Salix neotrichia, accompanied by spiny bushes, including species such as Crataegus monogyna, Rosa sp. and Prunus sp.