Looking at plants
Plants are vital to life on earth but the study of botany and plant taxonomy seem to be less popular than in past generations. This is sad because a close observation of plants shows very beautiful forms and is a gentle pastime available to everyone. Plants grow in the unlikliest places and are specially adapted to cope with varying conditions.
In books you will normally find plants categorised by family but this site offers pages by season and by type of terrain because it is useful for the tourist to be able to identify those plants in flower during their visit. Spring is the most spectacular season.
Plants at the Trigono Groves
The sites of Trigono Lamda offer a range of habitats for wild plants to grow on. Petra, the land above the lemon grove, has dry, rocky, slopes typical of a type of terrain known as Garrigue. The higher areas, which are fairly close to the sea, are stony and some plants that grow there maybe be found on a land type known as phrygana. Both of these types are associated with drought tolerant plants.Delta and Lamda olive groves are also on hillsides but further inland, where the terrain is less rocky, with heavy clay soil ideal for meadow flowers.
The Lemon Grove and Trigono Grove offer a combination of shade and sun and is home to many biennials, while the triangle offers a steep bank and untilled ground for perennials.
Plant Families and further information
There are hundreds of plant families and the renaming of them can be confusing to those of us who studied taxonomy years ago. Umbelliferae (celery and carrot family) has become Apiaceae and Leguminosae (bean family) - a most spectacular,interesting and easily identifiable family including wisteria, sweat pea, and broom, has been subdivided into several new families. Since Trigono Lamda is not priamrily aimed at botanists, I've concentrated on common names.
Protecting wild plants
Some plants take many years to colonise an area and one upheaval will set back their re-growth considerably. There is therefore a need to balance carefully between tilling, clearing and hedging to ensure trees receive light and air, without ruining the conditions for slow growing plants. Timing is important; To till before annuals have flowered may seem a good idea from the agricultural tidiness point of view, but at Trigono-Lamda the aim is to allow some seed to fall for the following year's plants. Even so, some Major work at the groves has at least a temporary adverse effect on some plants.