The Peloponnese is renowned for its diversity of wild and has a wide range of habitats from mountain zones with rocky slopes (Garrigue and Phrygana) to large plains with meadows and wetlands. Much of the land is still uncultivated; its rocky terrain provides a perfect habitat for herbs, shubby plants and bulbs.
Olive groves and meadows are carpeted with small flowers in winter and spring and many perrenial plants grow along the road-sides.
Flowers of the family COMPOSITAE, are numerous and make a stunning display in Spring. There is a wide variety in colour, height and growing location with some found on dry, stony groung, close to the sea, and others growing tall in the lush meadows.
The family LABIATAE also boasts a number of different types and colours of flowers, inluding the sages (Salvia species), Stachys and Thymus (thyme). These plants are found on the habitat known as "phrygana" and in April 2009, Salvia triloba, the three-lobed sage, Could be found on the steep bank of the roadside bordering the Trigono grove.
The family LEGUMINOSAE (known as the pea family) is well represented in Greece, including diverse plants and trees such as vetches, clover, gorse, broom, lupin and wisteria. Distribution is over a wide range of soils, including dry, stony, areas by the sea, on hillsides and by roadsides.
The Blue houndstongue is a member of the family BORAGINACEAE and was photographed at the Lemon Grove in 2009. Found on the edges of fields, as well as in rocky locations, it is an annual, so maybe I have not been at the Lemon Grove at its normal flowering time
Some plant details:
Phlomis cretica - family Labiatae
Common name: Phlomis cretica
Leaf type: lamceolate and downy
Flower: yellow, in whorls
Location: dry stony locations - by roadsisdes near Trigono and around Petra and the Lemon Grove
Flowering period: February - June
Anemone coronaria - Family - ranunulaceae
Common name: Crown or poppy anemone
Leaf type: deeply cut in whorls around the stem
Flower: large in shades of red, purple and blue, and also white, with dark purple/black anthers.
Location: fields, olive groves and road-sides.
Flowering period: Feb- May
Anemone pavonina
Common name: Peacock anemone
Leaf type: lobed in whorls.
Flower: many pink or violet sepals with dark blue anthers, a more delicate apearance than the Crown poppy.
Location: fields and road-sides.
Flowering period: February - April
Lupinus albus - Family leguminosae
Common name: White lupin
Leaf type: elypitical in rays, downy undesides
Flower: white "pea - like" (typical of this family of plants) arranged in racemes
Location: In fields - found On and around the Lemon grove.
Flowering period: April - June
Ranunculus ficaria
Common name: Lesser celandine
Leaf type: Heart shaped - glossy dark green
Flower: bright glossy yellow
Location: Damp shady places - found at the base of the bank at Trigono and on the borders of Lamda olive grove.
Flowering period: February - April
Hermodactylus tuberosus
(Family - Amaryllidaceae)Common name: Snake's head or Widow iris
Leaf type: Linear
Flower: Greenish yellow, with 3 sections each with with dark, almost black, velvety tips (edge of the perianth)
Location: Found in groves and stony places - common at the lemon grove and petralofos above the lemon grove.
Flowering period: February to April
Narcissus tazetta
(Family - IridaceaeCommon name: Bunch-flowered narcissus (Greek name - manousaki)
Leaf type: long and ridged, dull green
Flower: White with yellow trumpet (corona)
Location: damp places, has been found on low lying land close to the Trigono.
Flowering period: February to April
Asphodelus aestivus
(Family - LiliaceaeCommon name: Common asphodel
Leaf type: Long and tapered, around the base of the stem
Flower: small, white, with red vein, in clusters on the stem
Location: Stony locations. Found close the the lemon grove and at Petralofos above the lemon grove.
Flowering period: February to May
Links to other sites
Botany is a fascinating subject and the Peloponnese is one of the world's most valuable haunts for botanists and plant -lovers. At Trigono-Lamda plants are photographed in situ so as not to disturb them.Links to other sites
www.mediterraneo.gr - Publishers of "Wild flowers in Greece": ISBN: 960-8227-74-7
www.theoi.com - Plants in Greek Mythology
www.theseedsite.co.uk - Taxonomy (and common names) of plant families