Flora of Kythnos

Identify plants species

The flora of Kythnos is closely related to the flora of the other Cyclades islands and their coastal counterparts in Attica, Evia and Crete, with which they share common geological, biogeographical and cultural origins. Characteristic is the example of the endemic Tounta's fritillary Fritillaria obliqua subsp. tuntasia, which is endemic to the Cyclades, having its close relative Fritillaria obliqua subsp. obliqua endemic to Attica and Evia.

The silene of Kythnos, Silene cythnia, was firstly described here, but it can be found also in other islands of the Central Aegean. The laciniate bellflower, Campanula laciniata, is an endemic of the Aegean islands and Crete, whereas the Aegean anthyllis Anthyllis aegaea (=synonym Anthyllis splendens) appears only in in a few places in the Cyclades an E Crete. The beautiful grape hyacinth, subspecies hourglass-shaped Muscari pulchellum clepsidroides was firstly described in Kythnos in 1901 by the Greek botanist Tountas as a special form of the species and since then, it has been found in other Cyclades islands. Hirschfeld's larkspur Delphinium hirschfeldianum, constitutes an endemic variation of a widely distributed relative species, Delphinium peregrinum.

Other plant species that can be found in the island are the bellflower Campanula reiseri, Eryngium maritimum in the coastal areas, the emblematic Pancratium maritimum in the sand dunes, Helichrysum stoechas, Anagallis arvensis, Anchusa azurea, the cushion-forming Centaurea aegialophila and many orchid species like Ophrys bombyliflora, Ophrys ferrum-equinum, Ophrys fusca, Ophrys lutea, Ophrys iricolor, Ophrys tenthredinifera, Orchis fragans, Anacamptis papilionacea, Neotinea maculata και Serapias lingua.

Text: A. Kaltsis

Photos: T. Adamakopoulos