Farrobo

This name was formerly given in the archipelago to Sempervivum glutinosum, a member of the Crassulaceae now known as saião or ensaião. ‘Less than half a légua (league, about 5 km) beyond the Ilhéu da Fonte da Areia (‘sand spring’),’ says Frutuoso, ‘towards the east on the northern side, there is a settlement of up to fifteen inhabitants, which is called Farrobo because there grows there this herb so called, with which the fishermen dye their lines.’

Sempervivum glutinosum has disappeared from Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’), but it is quite common on the rocks of Madeira, where it is still used to dye fishing lines and make them tougher and stronger. The lines are rubbed with the crushed bark of the plant and then soaked in urine, a process that gives them a black colour, making them barely visible to the fish.

The term alfarroba or farroba is used on the island of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, to designate Sempervivum balsamiferum, a member of the Crassulaceae with the same uses as the S. glutinosum of Madeira.

In Madeira, ferrobar the lines means rubbing them with saião, as described above, ferrobar being a corruption of alfarrobar. The herb formerly called farrobo and today saião gave its name to a locality (sítio) on Porto Santo and to several localities on the island of Madeira.