Piorno
Describes the two Madeiran shrubs called piorno, Genista maderensis and G. virgata, their distribution and wood uses.
Two species are known by this name in Madeira: Genista maderensis and G. virgata. The first is a shrub or small tree of 1.50 to 5 metres, with trifoliate leaves and small, satiny-pubescent leaflets, only rarely almost hairless on the upper surface. The second is a shrub that can reach 2.50 m in height, with very small, leafless-looking, satiny-pubescent and whitish leaves. These two Leguminosae, both belonging to the subfamily Papilionoideae, have yellow flowers arranged in racemes. G. maderensis occurs in some ravines of the interior and between São Vicente and São Jorge; G. virgata is common in the outskirts of Funchal, in the Ribeira de Santa Luzia (‘St Lucy’s stream’), at Jardim da Serra (‘upland garden’), etc. The wood of the latter species, used exclusively for inlaid work (embutidos), is heavy, hard and compact, at first a yellowish white and later a reddish brown; that of the former, entirely unknown to cabinetmakers, is white or yellowish white. Genista maderensis, sometimes used as fodder for domestic animals, is, contrary to what Masferrer y Arquimbau supposed, a species quite distinct from the ‘gacia’ of the Canary Islands (Cytisus stenopetalus).
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 06
Abroad
- Canary Islands
Spain. Home of the gacia, a distinct species.
The Canary Islands are the archipelago neighbouring Madeira, with disputed accounts of their discovery. Tradition holds that their Béthencourt king sold them to Prince Henry in exchange for lands in Madeira. The Elucidário notes many contacts between the two archipelagos, including scientific visits, the Orfeão Madeirense's tour in May 1922 and the massacre of forty Jesuits in their waters.
- Funchal
G. virgata is frequent in its surroundings.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Jardim da Serra
Câmara de Lobos. Site where G. virgata is frequent.
Jardim da Serra is a scenic upland valley at the northern end of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos parish, Madeira, rich in native vegetation and with views over the Curral das Freiras. The English consul Henry Veitch built a country house there, first attempted tea cultivation in Madeira there and is buried in a mausoleum there; its high vineyards ripen late.
- Ribeira de Santa Luzia
Funchal. Site where G. virgata is frequent.
The Ribeira de Santa Luzia is one of the three streams crossing Funchal, named after a chapel of Santa Luzia on its left bank. Its banks were probably the first land irrigated by levadas and had four sugar mills in the late 17th century. It feeds the Santa Luzia, Moinhos and D. Isabel levadas, and the Jesuits' Fundoa residence stood on its right bank.
- São Jorge
Santana. G. maderensis grows between São Vicente and here.
North-coast parish that was an original parish of Santana municipality and gives its name to the northern archpriest district. It is known for plant-fossil and lignite deposits studied by Heer and Bunbury, and for a 17th-century landslide. The Elucidário also describes its islet, headland, quay and stream.
- São Vicente
G. maderensis grows between here and São Jorge.
São Vicente is described as the largest and most populous parish of northern Madeira and the seat of the only town on the north coast. The Elucidário covers its settlement, church history, localities and landscape, and the deadly landslide of 1929.
People
People mentioned · 01- Ramon Masferrer y Arquimbau1850–1884
Botanist who wrongly supposed Genista maderensis identical with the Canarian gacia, according to the Elucidário.