Viola odorata

Viola odorata is a common taxa, but it is quite unusual to find it in a wild form within an urban area. Here two specimens found in Peplos and Feres. Mars 28, 2012.

Fumaria officinalis

Peplos, Thrace, Mars 28, 2012

Vinca major

  

Peplos, Thrace, Mars 28, 2012

Hyacinthus orientalis

Peplos, Thrace, Mars 28, 2012

Hyacinthus orientalis originates in southern and central Turkey, northern Syria and Israel, from where it was introduced to Europe in early modernity. It is often cultivated, but it occurs in wild form as well. The main difference between the cultivar and the natural plant is the number of flowers per spike. On the cultivar they may range from 40 to 100, while on the natural plant (as the one on the pictures above) they are usually less than 15. According to Greek mythology Hyacinthe was a beautifull young lover of Apollo, who, when killed accidentally, was transformed by the god to the namebearing flower. The sources are numerous: Homer, Iliad ii.595-600; Apollodorus, Library 1.3.3; Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 162-219; Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.1.3, 3.19.4; Philostratus the Elder, Images i.24; Philostratus the Younger, Images 14; Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 14. However, the plant described by Theophrastus, History of Plants 6.6.10, under the name of hyakinthos, is not the one we call nowadays by the same name. It was probably some species of iris.

Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. obvallaris

Peplos, Thrace, Mars 28, 2012

Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. obvallaris, commonly called Tenby daffodil, is a cultivar, which now grows wild in some areas of northern Greece, as the above speciment found on grassland near the village Peplos, in the Evros district. This particular subspecies happens to be widely cultivated in the gardens of the village.

Erodium moschatum

Peplos, Thrace, Mars 28, 2012

Areopagus hill, Athens, January 22, 2012

Pnyx hill, Athens, Mars 3, 2012

Lamium purpureum

First picture Sofia, Bulgaria, May 6, 2009;

second to fourth pictures Peplos and Feres, Thrace, Mars 28, 2012.

Lamium purpureum may be easily confused with Lamium amplexicaule, but only the former has stalked leaves. The last picture was taken just behind the 12th century Byzantine church of Cosmosoteira, in Feres, during a visit with my friends Yuli Z. and Kleopatra F. A must-see if you visit the area!