The Norfolk Island Hibiscus of Montalvao

This tree comes from an island of thirty-five square kilometres in the Pacific, thirteen thousand kilometres away, and there are not many of them in Portugal. Lagunaria patersonii is native to Norfolk Island and Lord Howe, grows into a neat dense pyramid, and flowers in summer in pale pink cups that look like a small hibiscus, which is where the common name comes from. It also has a famous defence: the seed capsules are packed with fine stiff hairs that irritate skin badly enough that Australians call it the itchy bomb tree, so admire the fruit and do not open it. Setubal planted it for the same reason coastal cities everywhere did, because it stands up to salt wind and poor soil without complaint. At sixty-two it is the youngest tree on this page, and it is classified not for its age but because the species is genuinely uncommon here. The parish route lists it among the trees worth walking to, which is a fair verdict on a tree most people would pass without a glance.