Montezuma Cypress - Taxodium mucronatum

I recently came across a Montezuma Cypress tree (Taxodium mucronatum) in the "Retiro" park of Madrid, Spain. As soon as I saw it I had the distinct impression that I had never seen this tree species before and that it was an extraordinary tree.

A sign at the base of the tree revealed its identity and also made mention of the great "Arbol del Tule" in Santa Maria de Tule (Oaxaca, Mexico) which is both the worldwide champion of this species and the tree with the largest girth in the world (as claimed by some).

The leaves of this tree are similar to those of the Yew tree and thus the similarity in the scientific names between Taxodium and Taxus. These same leaves also help distinguish this tree from true cypress trees that have a similar "cone" but a very different leaf.

The image below does not really do justice to this tree as it is quite a bit bigger than it looks in this picture. I´m not really sure why the metallic fence but I suppose that it is there to keep people from climbing up onto the large lower branches.

The bark of the Montezuma Cypress reminds me a bit of what I imagine what dragon scales would look like.
Here is a rough translation of the sign by this tree...

"This specimen in the Retiro park is possibly the oldest tree in the park or even in all of Madrid. It was planted around the year 1633. It is said that during the War of Independence the French troops installed an artillery piece in its trunk, which may be the reason this tree was spared when almost all of the trees of the Retiro were cut down to make room for the French military headquarters. In 1991 the metallic fence was installed to protect this fine specimen. The "Ahuehuete del Parterre", as this tree is called, is the only representative of this species in the Retiro park and has been included in the registry of singular trees of Madrid."

Bracelet Honey Myrtle - Melaleuca armillaris

The Bracelet honey myrtle tree (Melaleuca armillaris) is another fine example of an Australian tree that is commonly planted in Southern Spain as an ornamental tree. The tree below is located in the Picasso gardens in the city of Malaga and is about 4 meters in height, which puts it pretty close to this tree species maximum height.
This tree species reminds me a great deal of the Bottlebrush tree and its close cousin the Weeping Bottlebrush whose leaves and flowers are quite similar except that the flowers instead of being a pale yellow are bright red. One distinctive of the Bracelet honey myrtle tree is that its bark peels of in long thin strips as can be seen in the image below.
You can see in the image below how similar the flowers of this tree species are to the Bottlebrush tree flowers both before they unfold and after they are fully formed at the terminal ends of the branches.