Thursday 21 February 2019

The Splendours of Greece - Part 4

Ever onward on our Greek adventure, we swapped the wonders of Parnassos and Delphi for the slightly cooler scenery of Mount Oiti. Although just a short drive to the north-west, Oiti is very different to Parnassos as it has vast areas of open, grassy slopes above its treeline and feels just a little cooler, which all provides a different suite of species to enjoy. This is a much-less travelled part of Greece than the busy slopes around Delphi and it was very much down to the knowledge of our local guides, David and Christos that we were able to find our way around and enjoy some of Greece's rarest plants - as well as great birding, butterflies, food, drink - and all that wonderous Greek ambience! So here's some pictures from fabulous Mount Oiti:

Once you've meandered your way up the dirt roads (and taken all the right turns!) and found your way above the treeline, Mount Oiti reveals itself as a wonderfully undulating and rolling plateau that is just crying out to be explored - this is my kind of place and my kind of trip!

Along tracksides on the way up the mountain, the mysteriously dark purple spikes of Epipactis subclausa were pushing through the dirt. It will be another week or more before the flowers on this localised orchid are ready to open, though.

Unlike the orchid above, this species was at the peak of flowering. Datylorhiza saccifera is scattered throughout southern Europe but is always rather local and we were pleased to find a nice colony in flower in wet grassland beside a small stream.

A few plants stand out on the 'much wanted' list; some because they are rare or localised, others because they have beautiful flowers and some because they are simply different. This plant has the lot and was one of my top trip highlights! This remarkable little plant is Rhynchocorys elephas, a partially parasitic plant in the broomrape family that is found scattered at a few locations in eastern Europe and Asia Minor.

When you see the flowers of Rhynchocorys elephas close up, you can see why it has been given the name of Elephant Head!

Many species of thistle grow to magnificent proportions in the Mediterranean region and provide a huge amount of nectar for local insect populations. This species is Onopordum illyricum, one of the cotton thistle species.

Plants whose appearance belie their true relationships are always fascinating, as they have clearly set off on their own evolutionary path and may one day be far enough genetically from their origins that they warrant the creation of a new plant family by taxonomists. Looking at the rich, sulphur yellow spikes of Bupleurum glumaceum (one of the hare's-ears), it is easy to forget that it's in the carrot family!

Everywhere you go you can usually find members of the campion family and this is especially true in the mountains of Greece it seems. Several spots that we stopped at on Mount Oiti gave us the opportunity to study Petrorhagia phthiotica (now that's a mouthful!), a species found on only two mountains in Greece and nowhere else in the world!

Everyone knows dandelions are pink, right?! Well, it's not quite a dandelion but pink-flowered members of this group of plants always seem a little at odds with what we are used to. Podospermum roseum or Pink Viper's-grass was uncommon but widespread on Oiti during our visit.

Dianthus tymphresteus is common in short turf on rocky ground on parts of Mount Oiti and is another locally speciality of southern Greece.

Viola aetolica is a little more widespread than some of the plants we saw, but still a real gem that dots the grassy landscapes with bright yellow.
The eyebrights are attractive little plants that can be common in grassy places but are often overlooked because they are very problematic to identify to species. Luckily for us, this teeny tiny species on Mount Oiti could only be Euphrasia minima and we happily added it to the ever-burgeoning list!

Always something of a masochist, I have a near-fatal attraction for trying to sort out the green and boring stuff such as grasses, sedges - and things like this. The creeping mats and green flowers of the ruptureworts are not everyone's cup of tea but here you go, this is Herniaria parnassica. I've often wondered if the ruptureworts were named by scientists who had to keep getting down to ground level to study them and then go through the process of getting back up again!

Last but not least, or in this case, very much least because - although you may not be able to tell from the photo - this plant was barely a centimetre tall and one of the rarest of the rare for us on this trip. Veronica oetaea is a startlingly rare speedwell that is confined to just two wet hollows on Mount Oiti. It is listed by IUCN as critically endangered, with a world distributional range of 0.04 square kilometres! The population is monitored regularly and management is required to maintain optimum habitat for the species.

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