Juan de Bermúdez, a Spanish explorer, discovered an uninhabited Bermuda in 1505. Left unsettled, the island was used as a replenishing point for Spanish and Portuguese crews crossing the Northern Atlantic. Great Britain, through a charter granted to the Virginia Company, began to officially settle Bermuda in 1612.
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Juniperus bermudiana - The Bermudan juniper tree is one in about 60 species making up the Juniperus genus. Junipers vary in configuration; there are tall trees measuring up to 20 meters and ground level shrubs with long trailers. The Bermudan juniper grows to about 15 meters in height. The first arrivals on Bermuda found the tree growing throughout the island, but clearing the forest for agricultural and shipbuilding purposes brought the Bermudan juniper and those animals relying on the tree for food or shelter into sharp decline.
