Greek
Flowers
During our visit to Greece
we were
interested in seeing all the
antiquities but we spent nearly as much time enjoying the flowers that
covered the fields and gardens everywhere we looked. We don't
know the names of most of them. The few that we do know or
have
comments about are here at the top of the page. The rest are
just
here to enjoy. If you happen to be able to identify any of
the
others let us know. Our e-mail is at the bottom of the page.
Click
on these links
for
Modern
Greece, Ancient
Greece, the Greek
Islands, our Greek
Eclipse, Greek
Eclipse Attire, Greek
Flowers, and Turkey.
For
pictures of flowers from our other travels click here.
Two
wild orchids we
found along a woodland path behind one of the hotels where we stayed.
The first is an Ophrys spruneri
the second is unidentified.
There were orange trees
in yards and
along the streets in the cities covered with buds and blossoms.
And we also saw some
apple
blossoms. Though they weren't nearly as common.
A wild iris.
Poppies were a common
sight among the
ruins.
These lavender plants, Lavandula
angustifolia were common
along the roadsides of the island of Evia and the bees were common on
their flowers.
Thanks Saskia, this is now correctly identified.
The island of
Santorini is actually a ring of islands surrounding a volcanic
crater.
Kameni is the island
in the center of the crater that formed since the eruption that created
the crater.
We
found a few rugged plants that manage to survive despite
little
rain and soil that has little
ability to hold moisture.
Nic visited this page and was able to identify the next three and quite a few more as you will see further down this page.
Umbilicus horizontalis, Navelwort
Lamarkia aurea, Golden Dog's-tail.
This one she identified as a
type of Senecio.
That leaves only this one from
Kameni still unknown.
If you can identify it please
E-mail Nancy
and
Alan
This one is not a plant.
It is an Epilithic Crustose lichen an organism composed of algae or cyanobacteria in symbiosis with a fungus.
The site of the original
Olympic games was covered with blooms.
Borage, Borago officinalis we found growing
wild.
Succulents were not
uncommon growing
among the rocks.
Grape hyacinths, Muscari covered
this field at
Olympia.
Arugula flowers, Eruca sativa, an herb
in the
mustard family. One covered with
morning dew.
Anemone were among the
most common
flowers we saw.
These may be anemones
too.
Daisies were also
plentiful.
Nasturtium
Lamium
Wild lupine, Lupinus
A vinca blossom.
Another anemone and a companion I had not been able to identify.
When Nic visited this page and recognized
the companion. .
She told me that it is a hawkweed
oxtongue, Picris hieracioides
Thanks Nic.
Malva sylvestris, Common Mallow identified by Anna
Thanks Anna
This one was identified as Euphorbia, Spurge by a visitor to this
page.
Thank you Grace. I appreciate your help.
And this one was identified as a
Calendula flower, Calendula officinalis by another visitor.
She told me "Calendula flowers range
from yellow to deep orange.
These plants have high medicinal
value and are widely used in Homeopathy."
Thanks Mitalee.
Nic, who identified several of the flowers above also put names to the next
15 that were once in the unidentified group.
Thank you, Nic.
Golden Drop, Onosma frutescens
Germander
Teucrium fruticans
Tragopogon - most likely porrifolius
From Wikipedia I found that its
common name is Salsify and it has an edible root that tastes like
oysters.
Nic told me that these all look like variations of Vicia, Fodder Vetch
Oleander seeds, Nerium oleander
This plant can be quite toxic
with a death reported from drinking oleander 'tea'
Polygala Nic told me that this looks like a
cultivated version.
The common name is milkwort or
snakeroot, from Wikipedia.
Nic tentatively identified this as Tordylium.
An image search shows that it is
quite similar but most that Google found had the large petals split
into two lobes.
Asphodeline lutea, Yellow
Asphodel
The Wikipedia entry about it says
that it was introduced into the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in
1648.
One of the curators of the garden at
the time said the plant was “not... used in Physicke (medicine) for any
purpose."
The locals from where it had been
obtained said that that plant had “no... propertie appropriate unto it
but knavery,"
The entry leaves open exactly what sort of knavery was possible.
Orlaya grandiflora, Minoan Lace
Mignonette possibly reseda alba or luteola
Another medicinal plant used as a sedative.
Another tentative identification by Nic
Asphodelus
ramosus, Branched Asphodel
Armed with a name for it I did an image search and I would say there is
little doubt she is right..
Acacia Cyanophylla, Blue-leaved Wattle or A.pycnantha, Golden Wattle
(introduced from Australia).
Thanks again Nic, your
identifications are a great addition to this page.
A visitor from Australia has identified another of my unknowns.
This is a Freesia though I have not been able to pin down it's exact species (there are a lot of them).
Thank you Anna.
The rest of these remain
unidentified.
If you know, or have a good guess, as to the identity of any of them
let us know.
E-mail Nancy
and
Alan
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I really appreciate it when someone
takes the time to help with the identifications.
As you can see I enjoy flowers but I
am no expert, so they make this page more useful to others who
visit.
For pictures of flowers from our other
travels click here.
See
other places we have visited
here.
E-mail Nancy
and
Alan