Uge Fuertes Sanz's Image

A small stonecrop adds a splash of yellow to a vast tilo tree. ‘Everywhere I looked there were magical forms,’ says Uge. When the surrounding fog cleared enough to add just a touch of mystery, he held his camera aloft, shooting blindly until multiple twisting curves filled the frame and the stonecrop’s colours popped.

Where cows graze on the forest floor, stonecrops have adapted to grow on trees. They gain moisture from the air, rain and ubiquitous fog. The gnarled tilo trees of Madeira are a dominant feature of the island’s laurel forests – the largest remaining relic of the ancient forest that once extended across southern Europe and northwestern Africa.