Phagnalon rupestre (L.) DC. subsp. rupestre - Cyprus

Phagnalon is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 18/3/2015 by George Konstantinou

Lacy phacelia, blue tansy or purple tansy - Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth. - Cyprus

Phacelia tanacetifolia is a species of phacelia known by the common names lacy phacelia, blue tansy or purple tansy.

It was originally native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, but it is now used in many places in agriculture as a cover crop, a bee plant, an attractant for other beneficial insects, as a green manure  and an ornamental plant. It is planted in vineyards and alongside crop fields, where it is valued for its long, coiling inflorescences of nectar-rich flowers which open in sequence, giving a long flowering period. It is a good insectary plant, attracting pollinators such as honey bees

It is also attractive to hoverflies (family Syrphidae), which are useful as biological pest control agents because they eat aphids and other pests

This is an annual herb which grows erect to a maximum height near 100 centimeters. The wild form is glandular and coated in stiff hairs. The leaves are mostly divided into smaller leaflets deeply and intricately cut into toothed lobes, giving them a lacy appearance. The very hairy inflorescence is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers in shades of blue and lavender. Each flower is just under a centimeter long and has protruding whiskery stamens.

The seeds are "negatively photoblastic", or photodormant, and will only germinate in darkness

Phacelia (phacelia, scorpionweed, heliotrope) is a genus of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants, native to North and South America.

The genus is traditionally placed at family rank with the waterleaves (Hydrophyllaceae) in the order Boraginales. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, recognizing that the traditional Boraginaceae and Hydrophyllaceae are paraphyletic with respect to each other, merges the latter into the former and considers the family basal in the Euasterids I clade. Other botanists continue to recognize the Hydrophyllaceae and Boraginales, but to make them monophyletic the present genus be moved to the Boraginaceae.[verification needed]

Many species are cultivated as garden plants and honey plants.

As with many species in the Boraginaceae, contact with the hairs of some species of Phacelia can cause a very unpleasant rash similar to that from poison oak and poison ivy in sensitive individuals. The major contact allergen of Phacelia crenulata has been identified as geranylhydroquinone. The similar-appearing species Eriodictyon parryi (poodle-dog bush), a common chaparral plant of Southern California, is also a frequent cause of skin irritation.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Orkonta 28/4/2015 by George Konstantinou

Hairy pink - Petrorhagia dubia (Raf.) G. López & Romo - Cyprus

Petrorhagia dubia is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name hairy pink. It is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, but it is known on other continents, including Australia and North and South America, as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. It is an annual herb growing 25 to 60 centimeters tall, but known to reach 90 centimeters in height. The leaves are up to 6 centimeters long, sheathing the stem at the bases. The inflorescence bears a head-like cluster of flowers, their bases enclosed in a large, expanded mass of wide, claw-tipped bracts. The flower corollas are each further encased in a tubular calyx of sepals. The petals are bright pink to magenta or lavender in color with darker veins. Each is heart-shaped or divided into two lobes at the tip. The fruit is a capsule containing many tiny seeds. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 3/3/2015 by George Konstantinou

Echium angustifolium Mill. subsp. angustifolium - Cyprus

Echium  is a genus of 60 species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae.

The type species is Echium vulgare (viper's bugloss). Species of Echium are native to North Africa, mainland Europe and the Macaronesian islands where it reaches its maximum diversity. Some species have become invasive in southern Africa and Australia, and one of those, Echium plantagineum (Patterson's Curse), is a major invasive species in Australia.

Many species are used as ornamental and garden plants and may be found in suitable climates throughout the world. In Crete Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.

Echium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora onosmella and orange swift.

The seed oil from Echium plantagineum contains high levels of alpha linolenic acid (ALA), gamma linolenic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (SDA), making it valuable in cosmetic and skin care applications, with further potential as a functional food, as an alternative to fish oils
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 11/4/2015 by George Konstantinou

Purple viper's-bugloss or Paterson's curse - Echium plantagineum L. - Κατάρα του Πάτερσον - Cyprus

Photos Vasilia 4/4/2015 by George Konstantinou
Echium plantagineum, commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss or Paterson's curse, is a species of Echium native to western and southern Europe (from southern England south to Iberia and east to the Crimea), northern Africa, and southwestern Asia (east to Georgia). It has also been introduced to Australia, South Africa and United States, where it is an invasive weed. Due to a high concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is poisonous to grazing livestock, especially those with simple digestive systems, like horses. The toxins are cumulative in the liver, and death results from too much Paterson's curse in the diet.

Echium plantagineum is a winter annual plant growing to 20–60 cm tall, with rough, hairy, lanceolate leaves up to 14 cm long. The flowers are purple, 15–20 mm long, with all the stamens protruding, and borne on a branched spike.

Echnium plantagineum has become an invasive species in Australia, where it is also known as Salvation Jane (particularly in South Australia), blueweed, Lady Campbell weed, and Riverina bluebell.

In the United States the species has become naturalised in parts of California, Oregon, and some eastern states and areas such as northern Michigan. In Oregon it has been declared a noxious weed

In a study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the seeds were found to lower triglycerides.[citation needed] Researchers at Wake Forest University and the Harvard Center for Botanical Lipids fed mice a diet supplemented with echium oil and found that it had effects similar to fish oil in lowering triglyceride levels in blood plasma and the liver

Echium oil contains high levels of alpha linolenic acid (ALA), gamma linolenic acid (GLA), and stearidonic acid (SDA), making it valuable in cosmetic and skin care applications, with further potential as an alternative to dietary fish oils.

Echium plantagineum contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is poisonous. When eaten in large quantities, it causes reduced livestock weight and death, in severe cases. Paterson's curse can kill horses and irritate the udders of dairy cows and the skin of humans. After the 2003 Canberra bushfires a large bloom of the plant occurred on the burned land, and many horses became ill and died from grazing on it. Because the alkaloids can also be found in the nectar of Paterson's curse, the honey made from it should be blended with other honeys to dilute the toxins
.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Vasilia 2/4/2023 by Fani Konstantinou

Erodium ciconium (L.) L'Hér. - Cyprus

Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 60 species, native to North Africa, Indomalaya, The Middle East and Australia. They are perennials, annuals or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known Geranium (cranesbill).[1] American species are known as filarees or heron's bill, whereas Eurasian ones are usually called storksbills in English.

Carl Linnaeus grouped in the same genus (Geranium) the three similar genera Erodium, Geranium, and Pelargonium. The distinction between them was made by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle based on the number of stamens or anthers: five for Erodium, seven for Pelargonium, and ten for Geranium. However, the three genera have the same characteristics in regard to their fruit, which resemble long bird beaks. That characteristic is the basis for the names: Geranium evokes the crane (Greek geranos), Pelargonium the stork (pelargos), and Erodium the heron (erodios).

In cultivation, erodiums are usually seen in rockeries or alpine gardens.

The hybrid cultivar E. × variabile 'Roseum' (E. corsicum × E. reichardii), a compact, spreading perennial with rose-pink flowers in summer, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit

Erodium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Pasture Day Moth. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 13/3/2015 by George Konstantinou

Fumaria gaillardotii Boiss. - Cyprus

Red Data Book category

Fumaria (fumitory or fumewort, from Latin fūmus terrae, "smoke of the earth") is a genus of about 60 species of annual flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae. The genus is native to Europe, Africa and Asia, most diverse in the Mediterranean region, and introduced to North and South America and Australia. Fumaria indica contains the alkaloids fuyuziphine and alpha-hydrastine. Fumaria indica may have anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Gialousa 1/2/2015 by George Konstantinou

Fritillaria persica L. - Cyprus

Red Data Book category

Fritillaria persica is a Middle Eastern species of flowering plant in the lily family, native to southern Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental and naturalized in the Lazio region of Italy.

Fritillaria persica is a robust bulbous perennial growing 30–60 cm (12–24 in) tall. Each plant may bear up to 30, conical, narrow, bell-shaped flowers, up to 3/4 inches long, ranging in colour from deep purple to greenish brown.

A plant commonly found in cultivation outside its range is the cultivar 'Adiyaman', which is taller and more free-flowering than populations of the species inside its native range

Fritillaria is a genus of Eurasian, North African, and North American plants in the lily family.

There are about 100 to 130 species of bulbous plants in the family Liliaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, especially the Mediterranean, southwest Asia, and western North America. The name is derived from the Latin term for a dice-box (fritillus), and probably refers to the checkered pattern of the flowers of many species. Plants of the genus are known in English as fritillaries. Some North American species are called mission bells.

Fritillaries often have nodding, bell- or cup-shaped flowers, and the majority are spring-flowering. Certain species have flowers that emit disagreeable odors. The scent of Fritillaria imperialis has been called "rather nasty", while that of F. agrestis, known commonly as stink bells, is reminiscent of dog droppings. On the other hand, F. striata has a sweet fragrance

The scarlet lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii) eats fritillaries, and may become a pest where these plants are grown in gardens.

.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 In Cyprus the species Lilioceris faldermanni host the plant.

Photos Lefkara 8/3/2014 by George Konstantinou

Ficaria chrysocephala (P. D. Sell) Galasso & al. - Cyprus

Ficaria is a small genus of several species of plants in the Ranunculaceae family, which were perviously grouped with Ranunculus. The genus includes Ficaria verna, known as fig buttercup or lesser celandine, and related species. The name "Ficaria" is Classical Latin for fig. Plants in the genus are closely related to true buttercups but have only three sepals and swollen smooth achenes.

Molecular investigation of the genus Ranunculus revealed that it was not monophyletic with respect to a number of other recognized genera in the family – e.g. Ceratocephala, Halerpestes, Hamadryas, Laccopetalum, Myosurus, Oxygraphis, Paroxygraphis and Trautvetteria. The work revealed the need to separate Ficaria from Ranunculus, and both were added to the tribe Ranunculeae.

All Ficaria and Ranunculus species are poisonous when eaten fresh by cattle, horses, and other livestock, but their acrid taste and the blistering of the mouth caused by their poison means they are usually left uneaten. Poisoning can occur where buttercups are abundant in overgrazed fields where little other edible plant growth is left, and the animals eat them out of desperation. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, excessive salivation, colic, and severe blistering of the mouth, mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. When Ranunculus plants are handled, naturally occurring ranunculin is broken down to form protoanemonin, which is known to cause contact dermatitis in humans and care should therefore be exercised in extensive handling of the plants. The toxins are degraded by drying, so hay containing dried buttercups is safe.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Lefkara 8/3/2014 by George Konstantinou