Today during our visit to the highlands of Santa Cruz we had lunch in a very picturesque hacienda. Many exotic plants, with beautiful and colorful flowers, were admired by our visitors. In today's picture we can appreciate an example of the Chinese lantern (Hibiscus chizopetalus), originally found in tropical eastern Africa. This plant with peculiar beautiful red flowers was introduced to Santa Cruz Island by early settlers, to be used as an ornamental.
An estimated number of 438 exotic species (Mauchamp 1997) have reached the Galapagos. Approximately half (55.3%) appear to be of little concern. Many, like the one shown today, are typically found only where originally planted and they do not compete with the endemic and native species of the Galapagos Flora. At the moment the Chinese lantern is only found on the island of Santa Cruz. However, 2.5% of the exotic plants are highly aggressive and capable of causing damage, especially on the inhabited islands. The Galapagos National Park together with the terrestrial plants section of the Charles Darwin Research Station are doing titanic efforts to control and eradicate these dangerous exotic plants. A rigorous quarantine program has been established in order to avoid new introductions. The challenge these institutions are facing is to reverse the trend and save the archipelago's unique vegetation.
