Gray Matplant is a common arid zone plant growing only in sandy locations. The flowers are a valuable food source for the lava lizard, which also feeds on flies and other insects visiting the flowers. This field of matplant is seen extending up the north flank of Bartolomé’s single volcanic summit.

Bartolomé is volcanic, punctuated by numerous lava tubes and spatter cones and is perceptually the driest and most desolate of the islands we visited. Other than the matplant, the only living plants on this 1.2 sq km (.5 sq mi) island is spurge (chanaesyce spp) and lava cactus (Brachycereus nesioticus). The trail to the 114m (374’) summit passes through an eroded spatter cone.
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Image # 30434