Sunday 18 March 2012

A Bit of Botany For the Buffs Out There

Many years ago, when we used to come to Greece during May-June or September for the usual infusion of sunshine and long taverna evenings, my ex-brother-in-law's dad Don, who was a keen naturalist and used to produce his own honey at his home in the Quantocks, used to come to Greece (usually Samos) during the month of April for a walking holiday. On his return he would always enthuse about the wild flowers on a Greek island's hillsides during springtime, at a time when I'd never seen for myself what he meant.

Well, having now lived here for well over six years; yesterday morning, which was a truly wonderful bright blue vividly sunlit warm March morning, I had occasion to stroll up the hillside to our neighbours' house to check on their plants while they're away and - as I climbed the hill - I thought of Don. This year the gorse is spectacular, better and brighter than I can ever remember, and its wonderfully delicious scent creeps into your nostrils as you pass and makes you feel euphoric with the sense of being alive on such a day when the senses are heightened by the natural world all around you. Purely as a layman, I wonder whether this part of Europe is perhaps the limit of the gorse's preferred territory. As the first swallows swooped above me I thought that the much colder winter than normal which we've experienced this past few months may be the reason for the gorse's ebullience this year. Perhaps it prefers the colder climes and has responded by putting on its best show for years. As I say, I'm only a layman in botanical terms, but it seems that way to me.

But the gorse, then the abundance of tiny and not-so-tiny blooms all around, nudged me to go get my camera and go out on a snapping expedition. The results are below. I've numbered the photos and named the species in some cases. The others I confess to ignorance about and would invite the reader to perhaps put me out of my misery by telling me the names of the main species in their respective photos.

I hope you like them...

(To get a really good look, click on any image. Then, when the image has opened, right click on in and select "View Image". The next version can be enlarged further, as your mouse should change into a tiny magnifying glass with a + sign in it)

1. The Gorse, of course!

2. ?

 3. Viper's Bugloss maybe?
  
4. Notice the little blue flower too. What else is there?
  
5. The first Margaritas which, by the end of April, will create the cheesecake effect across the hillsides in their sheer abundance
  
6. Daisy, Stitchwort? something else perhaps...

7. Common Vetch. Not very common though this far south. Up North on the island of Thassos it grows in abundance, due to the shorter Summer, more plentiful rainfall and cooler Spring. 

8. Wild Lavatera, or Mallow. Lots along the roadsides here. It flowers well into the summer too if you watch out for it.

9. Piece of cake this one...

10. Oxalis pes-caprae, the one the children pick to suck the stems, which taste of lemon.

11. Another type of Poppy, dunno the exact name though...

12. Rock Roses

13. Another type of Rock Rose

14. Nice colour, but what's its name?

15. A shrub this one, the flowers of which are very small and I don't think they're out completely yet...

16. French Lavender. The bumble bees just love it and their buzz here was almost deafening. You can pick one out toward the right of the picture, though there are loads more in there somewhere...


18. No idea what this is called, it grows very low across the ground...

19. Very pretty tiny blue flowers on this. Any ideas?
  
20. The Wild Anemones come out first during December, but only the white, purple and blue ones. We have to wait until February for these darlings to burst into flower, but when they do...


And finally, not a flower at all, but the silk nests which the caterpillars weave in the fir trees at this time of year. The caterpillars eat their way along the branches, then go off in search of a wall to stick to whilst they turn into a chrysalis, from which they'll emerge as Gypsy Moths. It was from these babies that I got my very painful rash a few years ago, when they were so abundant it was scary. The hairs of the caterpillars can cause an allergic reaction on the skin. Something to do with histamines or whatever. Just hope you don't ever suffer from it. It's not fun!!!
Well, there you go. As hopefully illustrated above, the colour on a Southern Aegean hillside during spring is a wonder to behold and it's a shame more visitors don't come on bespoke holidays to stroll the hillsides and enjoy these things really.

Please do comment if you have any names for me!!!

18 comments:

  1. i too am a naturist and enjoy botany in the buff. It's good to know there are like minded individuals out there.

    Good 'blog

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  2. Naturist or naturalist? Or maybe both!!

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  3. Trevor Mcilveen19 March 2012 at 10:31

    John you already know Gloria & I are naturists

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    Replies
    1. Yea, but Trev, how was I to know it was you?

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  4. Nice photographic post John. On the subject of the caterpillars, in France they call them "chenille processionaires" due to the caterpillars forming a line as they travel down the tree to the soil to find somewhere to settle. It is at this point that your dog may find them and the results can be fatal, to the dog that is. Just a friendly warning to your regular readers. By the way we lived in Somerset for a while and know the Quantocks, clearly not as nice as Rhodes but the next best thing?

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    1. Yea, we noticed the "lines" which make them look like a much larger creature, reaching from a foot to a metre in length as they cross our drive!! Good to mention the dog danger, thanks for that. Plus occasionally we saw them all bunched up on the garden wall, looking from a distance like a tarantula!!!

      West Quantoxhead to be precise and - yes - a gorgeous area.

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  5. Well, number 2 looks like some kind of verbascum or borago. It's hard to tell as I can't really judge the size or height from your photos. Next time could you put something familiar next to the plant to give some sort of 'measure'? Perhaps a large glass of Mythos would do the trick! I jest! Lovely pictures, guess we are going to miss all the flowers again! My frinds in Italy also suffer the 'procession moths' , as they call them. They devastate the pine trees surrounding their property.
    Vicki
    PS Kalo taxidi for the end of the month

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    1. See, I forgot to take a glass of Mythos out with me (in my other trousers)

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    2. I think you may have it there with the Borage suggestion. I think it's a bit small for verbascum. Well done that lady. No prizes though, sorry!

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  6. Interesting blog John. I am hoping to become a Rhodes resident myself in the very near future so its nice to read experiences from another Brit!

    Number 15 is Mastic Tree (Pistacia lentiscus). I'll try and look more closely at the rest later and ID some more.

    Kind regards
    Matt

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    1. Marvellous, thank you Matt. What part of the island will you be moving to?

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  7. Hi John,

    Well my girlfriend and her family are in the north of the island so I expect to move either to town or a village to the south west of town - Fanes, Soroni or somewhere like that. Personally I love the mountains and the south half of the island as it is far less spoilt, quieter and has good wildlife - one of my main interests.

    The only thing stopping me from moving tomorrow is having to find a job. I've started doing ecotourism and indeed am running a wildlife tour in Rhodes next week. This venture will take time to build though so I'll probably need other sources of income. If you had any ideas or tips I'd be most grateful to hear them!

    Still haven't had a chance to scrutinise your plant photos, but will try to later tonight.

    All the best,
    Matt

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  8. Hi again John. I've had another look at the plants and heres some I can recognise...

    3 - Tassle Hyacinth (Muscari comosum)
    11 - Red horned poppy (Glaucium corniculatum)
    12 - Sage-leaved cistus (Cistus salviflourus)
    13 - Cistus creticus
    18 - Astragalus spruneri
    20 - Crown anemone (Anemone coronaria)

    Kind regards,
    Matt

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  9. Calls himself Matt, but I reckon it's Monty Don in disguise...

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  10. Number 19 is a form of anchusa, I think..................belatedly!

    Vicki

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    Replies
    1. I didn't know there was a version of anchusa called belatedly.

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  11. Oh yes, it's actually bela-ted-ly, so named because it's hairy foliage is reminiscent of a beautiful small furry soft toy bear!!
    Vicki
    Took a while to think of that, but my brain is still functioning, just!

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  12. I had a teddy once. I called it "Gladly" after the song we used to sing in Sunday School, "Gladly my cross-eyed bear."

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