Calle de la Biota
The name recalls the biota, an ornamental conifer also known as the oriental thuja or tree of life, part of the botanical series of the Berruguete neighborhood.
The biota is a conifer of the cypress family, native to China and East Asia, which European gardens took up for its compact shape, its fan-shaped branches and its evergreen foliage. Botanists have renamed it several times, and out of that shuffle of labels gardeners kept the short name that titles the street. The biota is also known as the oriental thuja or tree of life, the latter for its hardiness and long life.
The calle de la Biota fits a custom of the Berruguete neighborhood, where several streets bear the names of plants and shrubs rather than of people or dates. It is a short street, laid out for a plant that in its native lands lives for centuries.