The Gomerans have always looked after their palm trees as if they were prize garden roses. This ancient dedication has modelled the landscape to give way to valleys of endless leafy palms which have become one of the most symbolic images of the island. Clean and straight stems with carefully pruned tops show the enormous affection that the La Gomera people feel for their palm trees. It is no surprise that the Phoenix Canariensis (Canarian Palm), found in small and diverse clusters on other islands, is the true botanic star of an island that has always known how to make the most of one of the main plants that grows on the Canary Islands. This is why so much fuss has been made over the palm tree.    

The ancient islanders called the palm sap, a very sweet and dense liquid obtained from the top of the more mature trees, "guarapo". The people climb up to the top of the trees with great agility to make deep incisions in the heart of the palm and extract the nectar which is used to make palm honey, one of the basic ingredients of traditional Gomeran confectionary. According to the oldest inhabitants, eight litres of good guarapo is needed to make just one of palm honey, a dense and dark liquid which is extremely sweet and makes an ideal accompaniment to the reputable Gomeran sweets which are sold freshly made in the markets of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It is therefore no surprise that the palm trees are so well cared for in La Gomera.

In order to obtain the guarapo, the leaves are cut at the tip, leaving the surface of the buds on the edge of the stem exposed. At dusk every evening, a thin strip of the bare patch created by the previous incision is then cut with a chisel so that it "bleeds" overnight. The guarapo is collected in the mornings on a daily basis over periods of between 4 and 7 months. When there are any signs of damage to the tree, the process is abandoned so that the palm can form a new heart, a process that usually takes around 5 or 6 years from "bleeding" the tree.

The Canarian palm is endemic to the islands (native to the Archipelago) and is quite notably different from the North African date palm. The Canarian trees are smaller than their North African relatives (they grow to around 15 metres although some species can reach over 25), but instead display a leafier and more closed top and a straight and slender stem, making them more attractive to the eye than date palms.

Although they can grow at elevations of up to almost one thousand metres above sea level, the natural habitat for this impressive vegetation species is at the bottom of ravines where groups of leafy palms can be found, or on mountain slopes where small groups or isolated species can be seen. On La Gomera, both kinds can be seen but the most spectacular groupings are found at the bottom of certain ravines that have become like gardens hosting thousands of palm trees. The most striking, perhaps, are those in found in the Valle Gran Rey and Vallehermoso. These are both spectacular ravines, densely populated by palm trees which are cultivated by Gomeran farmers, the people who have always known how to make a palm tree cry in order to rob it of its nectar.