Autumn is associated with harvest and therefore fruits rather than flowers. However,
following the summer drought - a dormant period for bulbs and corms, one of the first flowers to show
along roadsisde banks is the Cyclamen. The flowers appear before the leaves.
There are many other Autumn flowers, perhaps less showy than the Spring blooms, but all with charm.
This page will grow as we discover and photograph them.
Around Methoni and at Trigono Groves
Cyclamen graecum
Common name: Greek Sowbread
Leaf type: Heart shaped
Flower: Pink, with pink/red underside
Location: widespread, usually on banks. Found at Lamda, Lemon Grove and Trigono
Flowering period: September-November
Other Autumn plants in Greece:
Spiranthes spiralis
Common name: Autumn lady's tresses
Leaf type: rosette around base of plant in Spring
Flower: small, white, aranged in a spiral on stem
Location: Forests and groves, but quite rare and not seen locally so far. Note: Apparently the only Autumn flowering orchid.
Flowering period: Autumn
Uginea maratima
Common name: Sea Squill
Leaf type: lanceolate - smooth and broad but appear after the flower.
Flower: Tiny white flowers on a tall, thick, reddish stem arising from a large bulb. (Note: poisonous but used medically)
Location: Widespread, stony locations especially. - A strangely spectacular sight as you travel by bus through the Peloponnese and the light catches the plants. The large bulb is often brought indoors at New year as a good luck charm.
Flowering period: August-October
Smilax aspera
Common name: Common smilax
Leaf type: lance/heartshaped on a thorny, square in section, stem
Flower: small pale pink/yellow/green, followed by red berries
Location: Widespread in hedgerows and undergrowth. Found especially on the borders of the lemon grove and Petraforos, where it's spines make it awkward to remove.
Flowering period: August-November
Scilla autumnalis
Common name: Autumn squill
Flowering period: September - October
Colchicum pusillum
(also similar: C cupani)Common name: Colchicum pusillum
Leaf type:lanceolate, at flowering time
Flower: small, in shades of pink, with yellow anthers. much daintier than other Colchicums
Location: Widespread on open stony locations including the lanes around the lemon grove and Trigono
Flowering period: October-December
Links to other sites
Trigono-Lamda cannot supply the detailed information that more specialist sites are able to; but take great pleasure in being able to direct you to some practical and some very beautiful sites:
www.mediterraneo.gr - Publishers of "Wild flowers in Greece": ISBN: 960-8227-74-7
www.theoi.com - Plants in Greek Mythology
www.theseedsite.co.uk - Taxonomy (and common names) of plant families