Lotus berthelotii (Parrot's Beak)

Native to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, this low evergreen subshrub forms trailing stems or spreads across the ground. Fine, linear, silver-gray foliage contrasts with rich orange-red flowers whose long, pointed shape gives the plant its parrot’s beak name. Flowers often appear in pairs during spring and early summer. The stems can spread several feet while remaining less than a foot tall. It is endangered in the Canary Islands, where its remaining wild populations are very small. Photographed in Peru.