Ecology of Lemnos

Ecology of Lemnos

Wikipedia: Ecology (from Greek: οἶκος, house: -λογία, study of) is the scientific analysis   and study of interactions among organisms and their environment. 

Below are plants I’ve observed as I’ve walked around Lemnos, and a few I’ve brought into my garden. Some have done OK others do not transport well tino a cultivated setting.

Hilly Heath lands – stunted growth, tough goat-proof

Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Broom

Oregano, or Marjoram (Rigani) is rich in essential oils and the name ‘oregano’ derives from Greek oros (mountain) and ganos (joy or delight). It was believed Aphrodite created the sweet smell as a symbol of happiness and the herb once crowned bridal couples or was place on tombs to give peace and happiness to the departed. It is a culinary herb that has been used in Greece for 2,000 years. The most intense flavour comes from wild plants and there is much competition in Greece as who knows the best mountain spot to gather this herb. Like Thyme, Oregano is a graze-resistant herb. It has been able to survive not only the dry hot hillsides but also the persistent nibbling of goats and sheep. And like Thyme, Oregano can grow in my Lemnian garden but the plants from the hills have a more intense flavour. It is the heat and poor soil that intensifies the concentration of natural oils. The wild Marjoram bushes are semi-woody and they bear tiny tubular, rose-pink flowers.

Anestis goes up to the hills and picks some Rigani in the autumn, and after we have hung it for week (in the well house) I strip off the dried leaves and flowers which I then put in bottles to save for the next year. I have tried taking roots off this plant, and also from the hills thyme, but they root deeply under rocks and it is almost impossible to get a stem with roots on. The marjoram, or oregano, that I have growing in the garden is winter marjoram (also locally called Rigani). This has a more downy leaf and white flowers. I have been able to get root stock off these plants and spread it around the garden and it grows abundantly needing only a hard pruning in the spring.

Thyme (Thymari) grows on rocky soils and dry hillsides. The hills of Lemnos are covered by thyme and the honey produced on the island is thyme honey, we a distinctive flavour. They are supposedly good as an antiseptic; the name originates from the Greek thimio, to burn incense. The leaves contain thymol oil, and antiseptic and digestive aid. They are also used in a bouquet garni a bunch of herbs used a lot in French cooking. Thyme grows all over the low hills of Lemnos and the thyme honey made on the island is famous in Greece. At the times this plant blooms the hillsides are tinged with purple, tempting the bees and giving the thyme honey that the island is famous for it distinctive flavour. And when the grasses have died the thyme still adds a tinge of green to the hills. I have a couple of plants growing in the herb garden but the thyme from the hillsides is more pungent.

Thyme is another herb added to a bouquet garni, usually in a small muslin bag that is removed at the end of the cooking. In the garden Thyme can be used to grow in crevices, in well drained soil in full sun. It will spread but can be cut back after flowering to keep it compact.

Rocky Shorelines – spectacular cliffs, poor soil, windy

Sea Lavender, Malva, Turkish Hollyhocks, Capparis, Verbascum,

When we first arrived at the house there was a large capparis plant growing out of the old wall along the front of the house. I’d like to say this is a local survivor however it just could not cope with all the human interference that occurred when we rebuild the wall. I would have loved to have kept it, as it evidently was known in the neighbourhood – a neighbour told me about its beautiful springtime pink flowers. I did try to save some roots and grow it again in a crack in the new wall but I knew I was being optimistic and it was unlikely to take. It appears that this is one of those wild plants that do not take well to cultivation though it is often found in Greece on old rocky sites. I’ve seen one large plant on a steep rocky cliff on my morning walks. The plant was appreciated by both Romans and Greeks who used it in cooking but also as an astringent. The flowers buds were gathered and preserved in vinegar or salt. Today I gather nasturtium seeds as an alternative and preserving them in vinegar.

Sea Lavender (Limonium) Does well in sandy soil, it flowers spring and autumn from a rosette of leaves. It’s tolerant of a light frost. The islanders gather it and make wreaths to hang on their doors for Mayday. I gather a bunch and keep as dried flowers all year.

Verbascum or Dark Mullein is found all over Europe, and its yellow flower spike can rise up to 4 feet, from a basal rosette of felted leaves. It grows on dry stony hillsides, so it could grow in a gravel garden but I have not tried to move it to the garden.

Beaches and Dunes – poor loose soil, very dry

Sea Daffodil, Sea Spurge, Sea Bindweed,

Sea Daffodils are a member of the amaryllis family. They grow in coastal sand and dues around the Mediterranean coastline and Black Sea. They are sweetly and strongly scented, and have large white blooms, produced in summer and autumn. This lily has long inspired Greek art, being found in the ancient wall painting in the palaces at Knossos, Crete. I’m not sure where I got my plant. Probably I dug up a bulb when I went to a sandy beach with some friends, as I’ve thought that the strappy leaves that came up each year were of some bulb I’d brought from Australia. Last year was the first year I’d seen it flowering. It’s probably not a good idea to dig up the bulbs as the plant becoming somewhat rare because it is often picked indiscriminately for its scented and showy flowers. It does look like multi-headed, white daffodil – thus its common name Sea Daffodil, though it is also known as a Sea Lily. My plant seems to be doing well in my garden with one plant flowering this July and two other plants flourishing nearby. I hope to see it every year now it is established. 

Bindweeds are also known as ‘morning glories’ some with large blue or white flowers. While I love the large blue flowered variety in Greece they grow very fast (and can reach 3 meters in just two months) so the large flowered variety is a curse in my Emerald garden (where their underground roots love the damp composted soil). The small white flowered variety are a curse in my Greek garden, they seem to love dry stony conditions. Along the sea front on the island there are also a few with pink-striped flowers.

I looked up the weed we had in the Lemnos garden in my plant books and found it was Convolvulus cneorum it forming a silvery mound with white flowers, and it could survive cold winters but does very well in hot dry soils. Perfect! This was the plant that is the bane of my life in Lemnos. You always have a ‘bane of your life’ in each garden and this was the one in Lemnos.  The problem was that every little bit of it roots would produce a new plant. So it was no use just pulling it up, or as Anestis did hoe the top off, it just arose again like a multi-headed hydra.  I have a similar problem in my Melbourne garden with another kind of convolvulus; this one has larger flowers, and larger, heart-shaped, leaves. It too burrows all over the garden, defying any weeding program, it left over root parts popping up with a new plant that would try to strangle any plant in its path.

Grassy Fields, Stream Beds and Hedges – ignored uncultivated areas

Pokeweed, Grasses, Poppies, Camomile Daisies, Olives, Oaks, Prickly Pear, Cow Parsley, Oleander, Hemlock, Fennel, Acanthus, Dandelion, Squirting Cucumber,

Hemlock is a perennial Mediterranean herb that grows up to 3 m. White or pink flowers in an umbrella arrangement, between August-December. Many small seeds produced after flowering. All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans and animals. Socrates was given a tea made of hemlock as a death sentence.

Chamomile daisies and poppies come and go of their own accord. I was once there earlier enough in spring to see them blooming in a corners of our yard, and I hope they still come up, but probably these local survivors have left, with so much human activity spoiling the freely abandon style of sowing that they prefer. They make a good tea, but unfortunately it’s not a tea I enjoy.

Dandelion is a very familiar plant in every garden, found also in pastures and waste ground. It’s often seen as a troublesome weed but in Greece in spring the leaves are gathered to add to the dish called horta, wild greens.

Acanthus or as it’s sometimes know, Bear’s Breeches, is native of south-western Europe, and commonly found in woodland scrub and stony hillsides. Akantha is Greek for thorn, and akanthocomus tells us this plant has spiny hairs on its leaves. I took one into my garden and like the Euphorbia plant I planted it likes to take over, though as it’s easily controlled I don’t mind. It has creamy-white to slightly pink or purplish flowers in late spring. I remove the stems after flowering to try to prevent it seeding too vigorously.

This plant is well known as the source of inspiration for the Greek sculptor Callimachus’ ornamental motif that decorates the tops of Corinthian pillars. There is an old myth told about this plant regarding the nymph Acantha who was desired by the God Apollo. In her attempt to escape his unwanted advances she scratched his face and in revenge he turned her into this spiky plant.

Squirting Cucumber is a member of the cucurbitaceous family. Found mostly in the Mediterranean region it needs some water and a lot of sun. When the fruit ripens when touched it squirts out its seeds.

Poppies are associated with heavily disturbed ground, hence its symbolic association with the battlefields of WW1. It has a persistent seed bank, and often found on the island in cultivated land and waste places. Although in the rest of Europe with modern agricultural practices it is less found. It likes acid soils.

Poppies flower in the fields and hedge rows in spring. The goddess Ceres, mourning for her daughter Proserpina, is said to have created the poppy so that she could eat its seeds and forget her grief. Down the ages it has been the symbol of sleep and consolation. In Flanders and in France, it sprang up on the battlefields and has become identified with the sacrifice of the soldiers of the Great War. Colonel MacRae, a Canadian, killed in action, wrote the poem ‘Flanders Fields’.The garden poppy as we know it was introduced into Britain in 1716.

Oleander (Rose Bay) in the wild grows along watercourses, and damp ravines. It is widely cultivated in Greece grown in parks and gardens and along roadsides. The whole plant including the sap is toxic. This is a bush that prefers dry, warm climates though in the wild it grows along water courses, in North Africa and in Southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. It is related to the Periwinkle.

 In Greece this plant is appreciated for its flowers (pink, red, purple, yellow and apricot) that persist all summer. It is easy to cultivate as it is resistant to drought, tolerates root competition and can take drastic pruning. For all these reasons it is much grown in Greece and can be seen in many parks and gardens, used as a hedge or windbreak, planted under trees or even used as a pot plant.  At one time the Greek government had a policy of encouraging roadside plantings of oleanders.

However the whole plant is extremely poisonous. If parts of this plant are accidentally swallowed it can cause serious illness and even death.  There are stories in Australia of people being poisoned after using the stems as skewers for their barbequed meat, or of people using the sticks to light fires and succumbing to the toxic fumes.  It is probably because of this that in Greece it is said to be unlucky to have a plant in your garden, and so many chose to plant the bushes outside the garden walls.

Fennel is a good culinary herb and grows along the waysides as it likes dry stony calcareous soils near the sea , and is easy to go out and pick but I always appreciate it coming up in my garden. They occasionally pop up in my garden I have not planted them as it’s easy to go out and pick leaves when I want them for a spinach pie, or salad. Originating in Southern Europe and Western Asia this is an erect perennial herb that can grow to 2.5 metres. The Greek name marainome (to grow thinner) comes from the time when the ancients used Fennel to suppress hunger pangs. Its fern-like leave smells of aniseed as does its seeds. It has small flat umbels of yellow flowers in late spring. I’ve read that is not a good idea to plant Fennel near to Dill or Coriander as it may cross-pollinate and alter the flavour of the other two.