Last
week we were walking down by the White River at Makry Gialos. If we
had continued up the gorge this is the village at which we would have
arrived. It is called Pefki (or Pefkoi) which means Pine Trees in
Greek. The Pines to which the name relates are these, the Turkish
Pine, Pinus brutia. Although native to the Eastern
Mediterranean, particularly Turkey, you will also find them in
Australia and New Zealand and the reason for this goes back a little
over 100 years to the 25th April 1915. Aussies and Kiwis
will recognise this immediately as Anzac day which commemorates the
Gallipoli campaign where many Australian and New Zealand lives were
lost.
One of the major landmarks of the Gallipoli landings was a lone
pine tree and in the aftermath of the campaign soldiers took cones
from the battlefield and planted the seeds back home as living
memorials to the fallen. Which is why you have Turkish Pines half a
world away in Australia and New Zealand.
But
to pleasanter thoughts – this is the track down into the gorge and
immediately we have an old friend waiting for us on the path. This is
the Red Admiral, Vanessa
atalanta and
it is one of two Vanessid butterflies that often accompany us on our
walks in the winter. The other is the Painted Lady, Vanessa
cardui and
if you remember back to last year when we were coming down the
Milonas
Valley both
species were flitting about all over the place. This winter I haven't
seen a single Painted Lady. They are a migratory species that come
over on the African winds but this year, not a sign of one as yet.
Keep your eyes peeled.
I
mentioned the Mandrake in passing last week and here, under this
Carob tree is one of the most magnificent I've ever seen. Mandrakes
are part of the Nightshade family, a somewhat diverse group of plants
containing such poisonous personalities as Deadly Nightshade, Henbane
and Thorn Apple as well as the table friendly Potato, Tomato,
Aubergine (Eggplant) and Bell Pepper. Which begs the question; how
can such diverse plants be grouped together in one family? Nowadays
we are using genome sequencing to see who is related to whom but
since the 19th
century we have been using floral formulae and the formula for the
Solanaceae family is this:
This
tells us that they have bracts, are actinomorphic, hermaphrodite and
more than anyone other than a dedicated botanist would want to know
about the number and position of their sexual organs. Fundamentally,
plants are grouped together on the basis of similarities in their
anatomies which have evolved over time rather than on the basis of
how they affect us. In practical terms it means that you can take any
flower, determine its floral formula and work out to which family it
belongs.
Whilst
we're on the subject of flowers come and take a look at this
Mediterranean Spurge a moment. Not the most pleasant smelling plant
to us but irresistible to flies as you can see. We've long known that
colour and smell attracts insects to plants and when the insect goes
in for the nectar it gets coated in pollen grains. These are then
transferred to the next plant it visits and thus it becomes
pollinated. But not all plants are pollinated by insects, some are
pollinated by birds, so how do you attract a bird and repel an insect
(or vice versa)? Here's the trick. Plants have a gene that controls a
protein which determines the shape of the cells on the petal surface.
Turned on it produces conical cells which an insect can get a grip
on, even in windy conditions; turned off and it produces flat cells
that insects just slide off. This Spurge has gone one better. See how
the surface is covered in tiny hairs which the flies are using to
anchor themselves into position? Perfect target audience marketing –
attract them in with the correct fragrance and make it simple to
obtain the product. We could learn a thing or two here. After all,
flowers have been in the selling game a lot longer than we have.
That's
enough science for one day I think, let's just mosey on down the
track awhile and enjoy the rural landscape. Most people, I suspect,
miss this part of the gorge. They're either hurrying down to get to
the spectacular rock walls below or thankful to have nearly reached
the top if they're coming the other way. But this is really quite an
idyllic rural stroll in itself with the gourds out drying in the sun
and the chickens ambling about in the winter warmth. Crete, there's
nowhere quite like it really.
The
Extra Bit
We
had rather a lot of plants this week but I've just one more to share
with you as it's a type of Stonecrop (Sedum
sediforme)
which hasn't been recorded in this location before.
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