Ioannis Bazos
Aristolochia species are perennial herbs and frutescent climbers with alternate leaves and a very characteristic zygomorphic perianth. Aristolochia cretica is endemic to Crete, Karpathos and Kasos islands. It grows in ravines and rocky slopes with phrygana, semi-shady places by rocks or under bushes, usually on limestone. It flowers from mid-March to end of May.
Linum arboreum is a genuine ornament on the rocks, a very attractive shrub with bright yellow flowers and relatively early spring flowering that will definitely attract your attention. It can reach 1 meter in height although it is usually lower and caespitose. Its leaves are glabrous and thick and its few-flowered compact inflorescences appear from March to May and occasionally from January. It is usually found in rock crevices and rocky slopes with macchie and phrygana vegetation, from sea level up to 900 meters although rarely it can be found up to 1900 meters.
Perennial with woody base, leaves broadly ovate to suborbicular, white tomentose to both sides. Flowering shoots up to 15 cm, slender, brittle, tomentose-villous. Flowers with pink to reddish-purple corollas, forming dense and narrow spikes. It grows in vertical limestone cliffs up to 500 m and flowers from May to July (occasionally later). T. montbretii is a variable species divided into 5 subspecies, distributed in Greece (Dodecanese Islands), S. Anatolia, W. Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. T. montbretii subsp.
Πολυετές ποώδες φυτό με ωοειδή βολβό. Τα φύλλα είναι συγκεντρωμένα στη βάση του φυτού, ενώ άφυλλος βλαστός καταλήγει σε έναν πυκνό βότρυ, που αποτελείται από γόνιμα και άγονα άνθη. Φύεται σε περιοχές χαμηλών υψομέτρων, σε ανοικτές πετρώδεις θέσεις σε φρύγανα, αραιά πευκοδάση, ελαιώνες και εγκαταλελειμμένους αγρούς. Ανθίζει συνήθως από τον Φεβρουάριο έως τον Απρίλιο. Στην Ελλάδα είναι αρκετά κοινό και έχει καταγραφεί από όλες τις χλωριδικές περιοχές.
Pancratium maritimum L. is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful plants of the Greek flora, with its large, white, fragrant flowers. It grows on beaches and coastal sand dunes of the Mediterranean region and the Black Sea and it flowers from July to October. In recent years its Greek populations subside significantly, due to intense tourism and residential pressures on its habitat.