🇺🇾 The flowers of Uruguay
14 pages from Uruguay: its flowers, the things made with them and the places to see them, across 1 city or region.
Uruguay’s plant life is shaped by vast prairies, with grasses and wildflowers covering most of the land. Forests are small and found mainly along rivers, hosting a mix of native trees and bushes. The country’s national flower is the ceibo, a bright red bloom. Unique prairie and river plants set Uruguay apart from its neighbors.
- About 80% of Uruguay is covered by prairie.
- Over 2,500 plant species grow in the country.
- Ceibo (Erythrina cristagalli) is the national flower.
- Forests are mainly found along rivers.
- Cortaderia selloana grows in the prairies.
The plant life of Uruguay
Uruguay’s flora is dominated by open grasslands, which make up about four-fifths of the country. These prairies are home to hundreds of grass species and many kinds of wildflowers and herbs. Forests are limited in size and mostly grow in clusters along rivers, where both native hardwoods and softwoods are found. The country’s plant life is closely tied to the Argentine Pampas, but with its own mix of species, including imported eucalyptus and native palms. Bushes and shrubs are common in valleys and less wooded areas.
From region to region in Uruguay
The character of Uruguay’s flora changes with the landscape. Prairies stretch across most of the country, especially in regions like Canelones, Colonia, and Lavalleja. Forested areas are mainly found near rivers, where native trees and palms grow. Valleys often have dense bush lands with shrubs such as arrayán and chal-chal. Each region supports its own mix of grasses, flowers, and woody plants.
Flowers to know in Uruguay
The ceibo (Erythrina cristagalli), with its striking red flowers, is Uruguay’s national flower. River forests feature trees like sauce criollo and sarandí colorado, while the prairies support plants such as tala, espina amarilla, and the tall Cortaderia selloana. Native bushes like coronilla and guayabo colorado are also common. These species help define Uruguay’s natural landscape.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flora of Uruguay", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Phool rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Cities and regions of Uruguay
PlacePhoto credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Prado: No machine-readable author provided. Nmoli~commonswiki assumed (based, Public domain, source
- Uruguay: Kurt Stueber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source