Wildflowers of Andalucia

[Brenda]

I am hoping to arouse some interest and discussion regarding our flora here in Andalucia and attract other like-minded enthusiasts to comment here or add their own threads. Certainly if you are interested in our flora, whether as a visitor or resident of this province, then some exchange of information or general discussion on this subject could benefit us all.

For a start, don't you find it frustrating that you have to hop between several different fieldguides to id your plants? Does anyone know of a single book that covers 'all' our flora in Andalucia? Perhaps we can post photographs here and ask for help on identification or just share our local and beautiful plantlife.

I thought I would post a photograph here of one of our most common and beautiful flowers that is flowering in our mountains at this time of year. A little bit of colour for our winter's days. The plant is Iris planifolia

Hoping for other interested people to start posting here!

Brenda

[Brenda]

The mandragora autumnalis is an autumn and winter flowering beauty here in Andalucia and is a plant totally surrounded in myth and folklore. The mandrake belongs to the Solanaceae or Potato family and has been mentioned over the centuries many times, even in the Bible it was noted as an aphrodisiac. From September to March it can be seen in olive groves, in fields or even along the verges growing as a large clump of enormous dark green leaves. If you take a closer look you will see the wonderful lilac-pink crocus like flowers, often 10-30 on a single plant and after flowering there are enormous yellow/orange seedpods. It has a taproot of 90cm-1.20m (3-4 feet) long, often forked and said to resemble a woman with an enormous hairdo. If you are a Harry Potter fan you will recognise the mandrake from the Herbology classes at Hogwarts!  You’ll find the plant in numerous sites, from Sierra de Grazalema, Canete La Real to Olvera, you just need to get out there and have a look.   

It is said that in Medieval England it grew beneath the gallows of murderers and sprang up from their sperm, but woe betide anyone who tried to dig up the plant. It was said that the taproot would scream, driving mad the person trying to excavate it so, eventually, they learnt to tie dogs to the roots to pull them out. Of course it didn’t matter if the poor dogs died mad. In the Harry Potter book the young magicians have to wear ear-mufflers to protect their ears and to stop them from going mad. The root itself is highly toxic, it is rich in alkaloids, for example scopolamine and atropine and therefore anyone playing around with it could very likely kill himself or someone else! It is probably best appreciated through the lens of a camera.
 
Manuals of Magic say that the root of the mandrake wrapped in silk and kept in a chest will ensure that you are never short of money (I must get around to trying this one day). There is also a saying in some parts of England that if you manage to keep a mandrake plant for 7 years it will turn into a child! This child will follow you everywhere and do your bidding! I don’t think I will give it a try thank you very much.

Brenda

[john]

Interesting stuff, Brenda, even to a blinkered and botanically ignorant birder like me! Keep 'em coming!

John

[Brenda]

Interesting stuff, Brenda, even to a blinkered and botanically ignorant birder like me! Keep 'em coming!

John

Certainly will, even at the expense of boring birders here on the forum!

 

[Brenda]

The photograph show the orchid, Ophrys lutea, or yellow bee orchid belonging to the family Orchidaceae. The Serranías of Ronda, Grazalema and Sierra de las Nieves are home to many different species of orchid starting with the giant orchid, Barlia robertiana, in January along the Zahara to Grazalema road. There are 37 different species (give or take one or two) and several of them will have subspecies belonging to them. Some orchids have wonderful names, the bumblebee orchid, sawfly orchid, Italian man, woodcock or champagne. The Italian man really has got two arms, two legs and a very long penis! The man orchid, Aceras anthropophorum looks like a man without a head, the Spanish call him the hanged man as he could be hanging from a noose. The one I would like to see most of all, Orchis papilionacea, the pink butterfly orchid is very rare in our area. There is a colony at El Gastor, but a Spanish friend informed me that last year goats had grazed the area and there was not one to be seen, so I have still yet to see them but unfortunately it’s too late for them now. There’s always later this year….

   The yellow bee orchid will soon be seen in many areas, especially at Libar near Montejaque, or Montejaque itself along the road heading towards the Sevilla road. You won’t see these plants from your car, you will have to get out and go for a walk, go on…it’ll do you good to go walking in the countryside and you will be amazed at how may different flowers you will see, also butterflies, birds, bugs and reptiles.

 Later in the Spring there will be the Lange’s orchid, Orchis langei, out in numerous places, a pink and white beauty. Drive into the Sierra de las Nieves Parque Natural, from the Ronda to San Pedro road, and you don’t have to go very far to see Lange’s orchid and some Limidorum trabutianum, or Trabut’s limidore, an insipid purple orchid. Follow the track and park at the split in the road and walk along the track to Fuen Fria, and you will be surrounded by masses of bright pink peonies, snow-in-summer, rockroses and the beautiful echiums plus many other flowers too numerous to mention. Take the right hand track off of this road and walk on and you will eventually come to the water storage pool for the helicopters and if you are as lucky as I was last week you may see huge ocellated lizards and a few snakes. If you are very quiet you may get to see wild boar and ibex too. On one occasion I had seen wild boar there with young ones, but you have to be very quiet as all the animals are shy, apart from once when a fox came right up to us and we were virtually hand-feeding him chocolate chip cookies!

So go on…get out there and have a look for yourselves.

[Brenda]

One of the joys of walking or driving in the hills and mountains of Andalucia is that you can always come across some wonderful sights, no matter what time of year. Even when you think you are not going to see any wild flowers, due to the vegetation looking like dried straw, you can still find something to make you do a double take and go and have a look. Taking a drive from Montejaque to the Refugio at the end of the Libar track we came across cascades of brilliant white blooms, tumbling over the rocks or climbing amongst bushes at the end of July. It was Clematis flammula, or the fragrant clematis to give it its’ common name, a member of the Ranunculaceae or Buttercup family. It is a perfumed, deciduous, woody climber that supports itself by its leaf stalks and makes such a beautiful picture in the dryness all around and can flower any time from May to August depending on the area. There is another clematis here in Andalucia too, Clematis cirrhosa, the December clematis or Virgin’s Bower. As it’s common name suggests it flowers during the winter, from November to February and has drooping pale green bell-shaped flowers. It’s another wonderful flower at a lean time of the year, especially here in the mountains when there is not much else around.
   
Since the end of last summer and during the past autumn with the morning temperatures perfect for getting out and about and walking in the hills or mountains, many flowers were still around in their glory. The autumn rains had started to green up the countryside, and along with the new spring-like grass there were new flowers appearing virtually everywhere. It is always worth looking out for one of the autumn crocuses already in flower, in September, at the Puerto de las Palomas near to Grazalema. There are several species of autumn crocus, colchicums, in our area belonging to the Liliaceae or Lily family. Colchicum autumnale, the meadow saffron, is the source of the drug colchicine used for hundreds of years for the treatment of gout and rheumatism.

Brenda

[sue]

Hi Brenda,
many birds rely on plants for their food and protection from predators...so plants do have a major importance to birders, they just might not be aware of it 

Regarding..."The one I would like to see most of all, Orchis papilionacea, the pink butterfly orchid is very rare in our area".

You may be pleased to know that there is one small clump of Mediterranean Butterfly Orchid (Orchis papilionacea) hiding behind a fence in an area called 'La Rana' near Grazalema village. (Flowering in April) This site also holds many  Orchis gennarii which is a delightful hybrid between (Orchis papilionacea) and Orchis champagneuxii.