A flower lesson - discovering some of Crete's flora



First rainy day today so I took time for a little plant research.

Yesterday while on a hike to check out some ancient ruins from the Dorian era (300 BC) at a site called Lissos, I was surprised to see so much new flower growth after the long dry summer. Up until today, there has not been any significant rain, and everything is still realy dry.

After a bit of reading, I've learned that many species have adapted to the dry Mediterranean climate and become dormant in the summer, and come to life in the fall. Such is the case with the species  of cyclamens here. There were so many of them growing on the high, dry terrain, sheltered in little crevices in the rocks. They are so delicate and pretty.

Cyclamen; I'd never seen them in their natural habitat before,
only as "exotic" pottetd plants


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Mastic shrub
Just learned that the mastic shrub or tree is the source of a resin used in a liquer, mastic, similar to ouzo.  The resin is drained from cuts made in the bark. According to Wiki, it was popular back in Roman times as a chewing gum, and in Medieval times, was used by Sultan's harems ad a breath fresher and in cosmetics! We've seen this shrub a lot here.

One flower  we've seen everywhere, all over Crete, I now know is  called sea squill, sea onion or Drima Maritima. They are very tall, spikes with white flowers. They flower all through summer,  grow from very large bulbs and can reach over 6ft tall. The ones we saw yesterday were starting to wither, but already, new green foliage was starting to shoot up from the bulbs. Wiki says Hippocrates used it to treat jaundice, convulsions and asthma! Pythagaros hung its sprouted bulbs over his door to ward off evil spirits! Also used as a poison. Pictured below.

Sea squill or Drima Maritima
New sprouts from the sea squill bulbs








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