Frankenia hirsuta L. - Cyprus

Frankenia (seaheath) is a genus in the Frankeniaceae family of flowering plants.

Photos Gialousa 17/11/2015 by George Konstantinou

Fennel - Foeniculum vulgare Mill. - Μάραθος - Cyprus

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea-coast and on riverbanks.

It is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb with culinary and medicinal uses and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Florence fennel or finocchio is a selection with a swollen, bulb-like stem base that is used as a vegetable.

Fennel is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the mouse moth and the anise swallowtail.

The word "fennel" developed from the Middle English fenel or fenyl. This came from the Old English fenol or finol, which in turn came from the Latin feniculum or foeniculum, the diminutive of fenum or faenum, meaning "hay". The Latin word for the plant was ferula, which is now used as the genus name of a related plant.

Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, is a perennial herb. It is erect, glaucous green, and grows to heights of up to 2.5 m, with hollow stems. The leaves grow up to 40 cm long; they are finely dissected, with the ultimate segments filiform (threadlike), about 0.5 mm wide. (Its leaves are similar to those of dill, but thinner.) The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels 5–15 cm wide, each umbel section having 20–50 tiny yellow flowers on short pedicels. The fruit is a dry seed from 4–10 mm long, half as wide or less, and grooved From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 5/10/2015 by George Konstantinou

blackspot hornpoppy or red horned-poppy - Glaucium corniculatum (L.) Rudolph - Cyprus

Glaucium corniculatum, the blackspot hornpoppy or red horned-poppy, is a species of the Glaucium genus in the poppy family (Papaveraceae). It is an annual flowering plant, occurring in southern Europe, and grows up to 1 foot (30 cm) high. The stem and leaves are hairy, the capsule fruit is covered with stiff hair, the flower is red, with a black spot on the base of the tepal bract, which has a yellow margin around it. The flower appears from June until August.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 1/3/2015 by George Konstantinou

Italian gladiolus, field gladiolus, and common sword-lily - Gladiolus italicus Mill. - Λάζαρος - Cyprus

Gladiolus italicus is a species of gladiolus known by the common names Italian gladiolus, field gladiolus, and common sword-lily.

It is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, but it is well-known on other continents where it is a common weed, particularly of cultivated fields and waste places. This perennial flower grows an erect stem approaching a meter in maximum height with a few long leaves around its base. Toward the top half of the generally unbranching stem is a spike inflorescence on which flowers appear at intervals. Each plant has up to 15 or 16 flowers. The flower is bright pink to magenta and several centimeters long with its stamens and style protruding from the throat. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long containing many seeds.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Mirtou 9/3/2015 by George Konstantinou

Geranium tuberosum L. - Cyprus

Geranium is a genus of 422 species of flowering annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as the cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region. The long, palmately cleft leaves are broadly circular in form. The flowers have five petals and are coloured white, pink, purple or blue, often with distinctive veining. Geraniums will grow in any soil as long as it is not waterlogged. Propagation is by semiripe cuttings in summer, by seed, or by division in autumn or spring.

The genus name is derived from the Greek γέρανος (géranos) or γερανός (geranós) ‘crane’. The English name ‘cranesbill’ derives from the appearance of the fruit capsule of some of the species. Species in the Geranium genus have a distinctive mechanism for seed dispersal. This consists of a beak-like column which springs open when ripe and casts the seeds some distance. The fruit capsule consists of five cells, each containing one seed, joined to a column produced from the centre of the old flower. The common name ‘cranesbill’ comes from the shape of the unsprung column, which in some species is long and looks like the bill of a crane. However, many species in this genus do not have a long beak-like column.

Geraniums are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including brown-tail and mouse moth.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos  14/3/2015 by George Konstantinou

Galium canum Req. - Cyprus

Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw.

There are over 600 species of Galium, with estimates of 629 to 650[4] as of 2013. The field madder, Sherardia arvensis, is a close relative and may be confused with a tiny bedstraw. Asperula is also a closely related genus; some species of Galium (such as woodruff, G. odoratum) are occasionally placed therein.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Voufavento 4/6/2015 by George Konstantinou

Matthiola tricuspidata (L.) R. Br. - Ματθιόλα η τρικέρατη - Cyprus

Matthiola  is a genus of flowering plants in the mustard family. It was named after Pietro Andrea Mattioli. This genus contains about 48[2] to 50 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous plants and subshrubs. Many are cultivated for their heavily scented, colorful flowers.

The common name stock may be applied to the whole genus, more specifically to varieties and cultivars of Matthiola incana. The common names evening stock and night-scented stock are applied to varieties of Matthiola longipetala (syn. M. bicornis)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Mantria 18/4/2015 by George Konstantinou