Crete 2023

Several years have passed since the AGS has organised a tour to Crete, it came as no surprise that there has been a lot of interest in this tour.

Most of us arrived on Saturday evening, on a flight from Manchester to Chania, our first destination. Others arrived a day or two early and enjoyed sunny weather and updated us of the flowers we would see. WhatsApp is a very useful tool in keeping in touch, and pictures and information flowed backwards and forwards preparing us for the days ahead.

Sunday morning, we set of on our first day trip to Paleochora, a seaside town on the southern coast of Crete. Harry, our driver, took us via Topolia gorge, where we stopped briefly and climbed the 256 steps leading to the Cave of the Wisdom of God. On each side of the path leading up to the cave, plants were in full flower. A visit that might have taken 10 minutes turned into nearly an hour. As soon as we stepped off the bus we spotted wild orchids (Orchis italica), salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius), rustyback ferns in crevices and Adiantum capilus-veneris growing in the moist shade at the mouth of the cave. Here we also admired the tomentose leaves of Verbascum arcturus, an endemic mullein species.

We drove further south and stopped in several places at Paleochora to admire the roadside flora. Chrystanthemum coronarium in full bloom, turned fields white and yellow; …

Before lunch on the main beach at Paleochora we also visited Cape Ge… where we found several seaside plants: Silene coronaria, Matthiola tricuspidata, Senecio, Medicago, blood-red parasitic Orobanche sanguinea and its host Lotus… On the cape there are stands of Juniperus oxycedrus macrocarpa, its habitat sadly greatly reduced by agriculture and touristic pressure. This shrub to small tree, has evergreen leaves with a white stripe and large fruits.

On our way back to Chania, we stopped to admire the azure blue flowers of Lupinus . This annual species is quite common in places; its seeds are edible and is often cultivated.

The next day we travelled south again, but this time we climbed up into the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) in search of wild tulips. At 17 km long, Samaria gorge the most famous of the Cretan gorges, with many tourists planning a visit in summer. In April the gorge is still closed to tourists, due to risks posed by adverse weather and snowmelt torrents. We explored the slopes at the entrance and within minutes came across dwarf forms of Anemone coronaria in shades of pink and purple. Anemone hortensis heldreichii was also in flower but only in bud. These slopes were also the home of yellow Ophrys lutea and Orchis pauciflora.

The Omalos plateau is well known among plant enthusiasts for its colonies of wild tulips, and it didn’t take long for us to find colonies of Tulipa saxatilis (syn bakeri) in bud, some about to open. These are most abundant in fields behind metal fences, and later we saw why. There are many flocks of goats and sheep, their droppings littering the circular road around the plateau. Those fields which had no fences, were grazed to the ground. Even evergreen, slightly thorny Quercus coccifera has been topiarised in the most fantastic shapes, suited for a Harry Potter filmset. Among some of the low, thorny shrubs we found lone examples of Romulea bulbocodium, Muscari neglectum and …

Driving down from the Omalos plateau, on a sharp bend overlooking Chania, we spotted good stands of Daphne sericea. Harry had to stop, park and wait for us while we photographed this scented Daphne with pink flowers fading to yellow. In amongst the thorny scrub Orchis pauciflora and Aethionema saxatile were also in flower.We did not linger for long, as the first heavy rain started.

Crete is well known for its diversity of wild orchid species, and a trip around Spili is well worth the effort. Tuesday was very wet and windy, but this did not put us of from exploring the fields in search of plants. At these lower altitudes Anemone hortensis heldreichii was in full bloom, beautiful examples with white petals contrasting well with the dark, blue pollen in the centre. On several roadside stops to and at the Spili bumbs we found over 15 species of orchids: Orchis, boryi, pauciflora, italica, … Ophrys lutea, cretica, tenthredinifera, bombylifera,  Serapias, Anacamptis pyramidalis, lactea, Barlia robertiana, several Serapias species. In places Tulipa doerfleri was also in bud, some growing on road verges others in cultivated fields. On a windswept rock outcrop we also found the first Iris unguicularis cretensis in flower.

The sun shone again on Wednesday morning, which made the visit to the Minoan cemetery at Armeni all the more enjoyable. The cemetery sits within a grove of Quercus ithaburensis macrolepis, a green haze with the sun filtering through the fresh oak leaves. Orchids and bulbs like Muscari comosum were enjoyed during the hour long visit here. Onwards and southwards to Plakias, a beautiful seaside resort with plenty of walks on Cape Kakomouras. At the base of the near vertical cliffs we found sinister looking Aristolochia cretica, brown Fritillaria messanensis scattered among shrubby Euphornia acanthothamnos and E. dendroides. One of these had orange flowers, different from the usual yellow forms. A walk to the caves and tunnels at the base of the cliffs, also gave us the opportunity to photograph the first Ranunculus creticus (in white and pink forms) we encountered.

After a brief picnic lunch at Plakias, we drove to nearby Preveli beach one of the sites where native Phoenix theophrati grows. This is one of just two European native palm species, the other being Chamaerops humilis from the Andalusia and western Mediterranean. There is no vehicular access to the palm forest, only a steep path down the cliff, but the the trek is well worth it. Morea sysirinchium, Aristolochia cretica and Tamus were observed in the palm grove.

A brief sunny interlude allowed us to stop at Armeni again, on a side road where Ferula communis in full flower were spotted the previous day. This turned out to be a longer stop, as we discovered beautiful stands of Cyclamen creticum with silver-spotted leaves; Ophrys cretica and Gladiolus italicus starting to flower.

As the rain started we left and drove to Alones. The rocky slopped were dotted with large numbers of Arum creticum. Though recorded here we found few Peonia clusii specimens, and no Fritillarias. The area seemed to have been heavily grazed, goats and kids were seen and heard among the trees. Cold, torrential rain and the lack of plants made us drive further south. We decided to walk through the Kotsifou gorge, with Harry and the bus waiting at the bottom. The first plants of Origanum dictamnus were observed here growing in vertical crevices on the side of the road, alongside Linum arborescens in flower and even Verbascum arcturus. The day ended with a beautiful early dinner at the … in M…

The weather forecast proved very accurate and the sun shone on us on Friday. Perfect weather for a long 8km walk through the Imbros Gorge, a much easier trek than Samaria. An hour drive from our hotel in Rethymno, the gorge runs from north to south across the… mountains. We set of shortly before lunchtime as a group but soon we split up according to each one’s level of fitness. It took us between 2 and 5 hours to complete the walk. Sunhats and walking sticks certainly helped. Despite this being the beginning of the tourist season (we were Harry’s first clients this year), there were many people walking through the gorge in both directions. We chose the slightly easier option of being dropped off at the top of the gorge, to make our way down towards the sea and the final destination: the Komitades taverna where we had a nice early dinner and a long rest.

We saw several new plants for us during the day: in moist, shady spots at the top of the gorge Saxifraga chrysosplenifolia was already in bloom alongside endemic Campanulaceae Petromarula… Beautiful tall native cypress grew on boulders, in cracks and crevices in the rocks and on both sides of the path. Several orchids and Symphytum creticum were also spotted along the way. What looked like Tulipa cretensis, though gone over, were flowering high up on a ledge.

At the bottom, near the ticket office, many Dracunculus vulgaris were in flower, strewn about among the river boulders and Vitex agnus-casti thickets.

Times goes by extremely quick on plant exploring tours and the week came to a close. With most of us flying back to the UK in the evening, we took the chance to explore the Akrotiri peninsula, minutes away from Chania airport. Those who missed the Dracunculus the day before, now had a chance to photograph the large flowers in all their glory. Some were over 1 m tall! However, the highlight of the day were parasitic … growing in among their hosts Cistus creticus. After we found the first flowers, we began to see them everywhere in the carpark at the … monastery. Before we dropped of the first two to fly back in the afternoon, we stopped about 1 minute drive away from the airport to photograph Gladiolus italicus, Serapias lingua and …

The rest of us ended the day with a short walk at … where Zorba de Greek was filmed. Our search for Tulipa cretica proved unsuccessful and the sadness of not finding this species was alleviated with a gorgeoust last dinner at … the best taverna on the Akrotiri peninsula. Time to fly back home!

In the end we managed to see Tulipa cretica, as one of us photographed and shared pictures of his plants at home on the Crete 2023 WhatsApp group!