Re: Scabiosa (pink) from southern France + Parnassos

Quite common in southern France we have Scabiosa columbaria, about 40 cm
high, with finely cut leaves and lilac flowers from June to October. There
is also Knautia arvensis which is taller and usually on roadsides near
cultivated lands. To check identification, Knautia arvensis has hairs on the
stems while Scabiosa colombaria does not.

These Scabiosa like full sun and well drained soil, they should be easy to
grow (I never tried).

We are just back from a plant huntig trip in the Parnassos mountains in
Greece, near Delfi. Beautiful landscapes, very rich flora ! Here are some of
the common or less common plants we've seen, if any one else wants to go
there :

The ancient ruins of Delfi are a wonderful rock garden (luckily no
herbicides used). Very common are Asphodeline lutea, Sternbergia lutea (in
full bloom), Cyclamen hederifolium. The small Hypericum rumeliacaum and
Nepeta parnassica grow in cracks between the blocks in old walls. Calamintha
nepeta sends off a strong mint smell when you step on it. Euphorbia
characias (or maybe E. wulfenii ?) can be found, but more showy is the huge
Euphorbia dendroides, like sculptures growing on the cliffs. Among the
shrubs there is also Anagyris foetida, Medicago arborea, and like everywhere
else in Greece, Pistacia lentiscus, Sarcopoterium spinosum and Thymus
capitatus.

Above the ruins there is a nice path used since ancient times climbing
towards the Parnassos. Phlomis fruticosa and Ballota pseudodictamnus are
everywhere, with a few Cistus creticus. The best plant we found there is a
marvellous perfectly round spiny Euphorbia, Euphorbia acanthoclados. We were
lucky to find some seeds left on a few plants. Here we found also a nice
form of Calamintha nepeta with blue flowers, instead of the usual pale mauve
type. A bit further up grows Lonicera nummularium, with almost no leaves on
the stems (sheep seem to enjoy it !). Pushing through the rocks are tiny
mounds of Aubrieta deltoides and the very nice Cerastium candidissimum, with
white leaves and a bit more upright habit than the common Cerastium
tomentosum. Erodium chrysanthum, with silky silver leaves, had still a few
soft yellow flowers. We collected a green leaved form of Teucrium polium (I
love all Teucrium !), and a Thyme with thick leaves, Thymus teucrioides.

Back to Athens (ugly polluted traffic jammed noisy city) we had a chance to
meet George Sfikas, a very knowledgeable local botanist, with whom we
visited the interesting Kaisariani monastery botanical garden (he gave us
cuttings of Teucrium polium ssp. capitatum and Teucrium brevifolium), and we
had a nice visit to the Sparoza garden with local plant enthusiasts, members
of the MGS (we found there a great Convolvulus oleifolium, like Convolvulus
cneorum but with linear leaves).

Now I'm waiting for all the seeds to germinate !

Olivier
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