Paul da Serra

Paul da Serra in the municipal county of Ponta do Sol, Madeira, is the largest and most extensive plateau of Madeira, at about 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi), with an altitude averaging about 1,500 m (4,900 ft). Its highest point is the peak pico do Paul at 1,640 m (5,380 ft) from where the length of the entire plateau can be viewed. On days with good visibility, both the south and north coasts are visible. Paul da Serra is considered the most important area of the islands groundwater recharge, and their planar structure facilitates the infiltration of a significant part of high rainfall year, while slowing the runoff towards the sea. The ground cover in almost all the Paul da Serra is composed of underbrush, reminiscent of its former use as grazing site, stressing among other the Feiteira (Pteridium aquilinum), highland bent, (Agrostis castellana), broom (Cytisus scoparius ssp. scoparius, C. striatus and C. multiflorus), the gorse (Ulex europaeus ssp. latebracteatus and U. minor), St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) or pelicão (Hypericum linarifolium and H. humifusum) and Thymus micans, an endemic species of Madeira, confined to the central mountain massif. With the abandonment of grazing due to government policies for environmental recovery, the island's mountains can be seen recovering, slowly but consistently, vegetation thought to be the original, before slaughter by the colonizers