The next morning, we headed up to the start of the Gorge of Samaria in cloudy weather with a smattering of rain. We crossed our fingers that this was the catalyst for the autumn bulbs we had come to see. John Fielding, our Cretan expert and guide, showed us the rare endemic Zelkova abelica, growing in groups alongside the road. We turned back to explore a track leading up into the mountains. Several followed John to botanise, others diverged to see the southern coast view and the rest botanised along the road, finding the last few flowers of restharrow, Ononis spinosa, spiny mullein Verbascum spinosum and spiny chicory Cichorum spinosum, all of which have evolved to cope with constant grazing by the wild goats.  Our first cyclamen of the trip, Cyclamen graecum ssp. candicum were starting into flower, with just a few of their dramatic leaves, with variations of silver, green and red markings, not all above ground yet. The species’ characteristic flower stalks, whose stem curls from the centre after pollination, was an added confirmation.

Day three took us on roads across a large area of acidic bedrock, covered in pink from the native heather, Erica manipuliflora, amongst oak scrub and the western strawberry tree Arbutus unedo. This is still a poorly botanised part of the island, the density of the vegetation suggesting it won’t be an easy task. We stopped at Koutsomados and Melvyn Jope showed us lovely drifts of Cyclamen hederifolium growing in deep leaf litter under planes and sweet chestnuts. At Topolia the tiny perfumed Narcissus elegans was flowering alongside plenty of Cyclamen confusum and the minute autumn squill, Prospero autumnalis. After a late lunch at the Diktina restaurant in Kolymbari, we headed east and then south to Plakias, our base for the rest of our stay.

Cyclamen hederifolium

Sunday morning brought us out of the town onto the beach, heading west towards the cliffs of the Kakomouri peninsula. The beautiful sea daffodils, Pancratimum maritimum were at peak display and it was stunning to see so many in flower at once. Walking on towards the cliff face, we came across bushes of Daphne gnidium and Thymelea hirsuta, along with Euphorbia paralias, all in flower.

The cliff face had the distinctive purple veined leafy rosettes of the mandrake, Mandragora officinalis, but no flowers yet, while on the rock slopes above, vertical flower spikes stood out amongst the evergreen chasmophytes. The strong verticals were identified from one surviving whorl of yellow flowers as Lactuca acanthifolia. Walking over the saddle towards Damnoni, we came across more of the daphne, some already starting to show their red berries and spectacular views back down into Plakias. Over the brow, the unwelcome sight of fly-tipping met our eyes, smothering a small depression known for its autumn flowering crocus species and we noted huge palm trunks and plenty of building rubble. Despite everything, a seedling fan palm was emerging through the rubble, hopefully resistant to the red palm weevil which is decimating other species, in particular the Canary Island palms all over the Mediterranean.

Mandragora officinalis

Monday saw us driving towards Spili, turning off towards the Gious Kambos plain heading for the little church amongst the famous Spili bumps. Along the track were isolated specimens of autumn ladies’ tresses Spiranthes spiralis and Allium chamaespathum, the latter very discrete with its green and white colouring. Plentiful water from the spring meant that there were still flowers on the Cirsium creticum attracting bees as well as butterflies.  The rock face behind was the site for Allium callimischon ssp. haemostictum and those who ventured up on the ridge were rewarded with the first sighting on this tour of Sternbergia sicula. Sadly the Colchicum macrophyllum John had reconnoitred the week before were past their best. Others searched for further north, were not showing above ground yet in this dry autumn.

We lunched at Thronos in the Aravanes Taverna, with a fine view, then travelled on to the Arkadi Monastery, a site of major historical and religious importance to Cretans in their fight for independence from Ottoman rule. The majority of us chose to visit this huge rectangular set of buildings with an early church at its centre. Euphorbia peplis was spotted growing in the courtyard. To the west, the ground drops sharply into a gorge but a few followed a track northwards up to a small church amongst woodland on the skyline.

This scrub woodland appeared ungrazed. We did find goats up at the church, however, and a scattering of a little autumn flowering dandelion, Taraxacum, sp. in the field behind. It was a good year for acorns on the kermes oaks, Quercus coccifera but there was little sign of the bright scarlet galls which are the source of the ancient kermes red dye.

We stayed local on 22 October, driving up to Myrthios, a pretty village high up above Plakias with excellent views of the Libyan sea. The bus driver declined to use the precipitous road below so most of us walked down to the track below the village. This led to a wet seep, full of Typha domingensis, the native reedmace and other native plants such as Myrtus communis and Clematis cirrhosa, the latter just starting into flower. The yellow aromatic inula, Dittrichia viscosa the predominant flowering plant in the autumn landscape so far, was in peak condition.  One tall herb, with tiny white composite flowers turned out to be an introduced weed, Symphyotrichum squamatumor. At the end of the track we found old olive trees with enormous trunks and many Cyclamen graecum ssp. candicum starting into bloom. The site had a good range of forms and colours and the Cyclamen experts compared notes on the more unusual ones.

Our last full day started with a trip to Preveli, stopping for coffee at the Gefyra Taverna beside the beautiful 18th century disused bridge. John pointed out another of the introduced plant species, Xanthium stramosum, with strange hooked zeppelin-like fruit and the obligatory spines to prevent grazing. We headed on down to the coast, splitting our group once again so that some could explore  Preveli Monastery nearby. The walk down the cliff offered spectacular views out to sea, with a special lookout giving first glimpses of the endemic palms at the mouth of the Koutaliotiko gorge below.

The other famous native grove, at Vai, near Palekastro has not survived their attack. It was a real privilege to see this grove and sobering to hear just how vulnerable the trees are. On the way back, tucked in amongst the palm trees was an enormous boulder full of Sternbergia sicula in bud and nearby was an excellent specimen of rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum in full flower.

Recovered palm tree showing blackened fire damage

Spiranthes spiralis

Crithmum maritimum

Biarum tenuifolium ssp. idomineum

A late lunch in Spili meant we dodged a decent shower of rain before heading on to Aktounda village. We walked up a rough track into the phrygana looking for Spiranthes spiralis, the only autumn-flowering orchid in Crete. We found plenty more Prospero autumnalis and Colchicum pusilum sheltering in the spiny phrygana but it took a while to find any flowering spikes of Spiranthes at all. The previous week’s hundreds had been grazed down to a few short individuals by a local flock of sheep. We had better luck and more shelter for the photographers lower down our track. Close to the village, a shady site under trees turned up an unexpected find, Biarum tenuifolium ssp. John thought this was most probably Biarum tenuifolium ssp. idomineum. The dark maroon spike was not yet fully open but was already about 21cm tall. It was growing with another aroid just coming into leaf, probably Arum creticum.

We left Plakias for the flights home on 24 October, stopping at Lake Kournas, the only natural fresh water lake in Crete, en route to Chania airport. Perhaps due to its popularity with tourists, the beach front is heavily trampled with little of interest but to either side are groves of Styrax officinalis and Vitex agnus-casti, including the white-flowered form. The slopes across the lake are known to be much more diverse botanically but there were flights to catch!

I left the party at Georgioupoli, enjoying a day on the beach before my late flight home. There was an interesting salt-tolerant plant growing right next to me, prickly saltwort, Salsola kali. Enjoying the late sunshine I had time to reflect on both an extensive and wide-ranging trip within Crete and also the clever way in which the organisers had managed to cater for so many interests and abilities in one week’s trip. ​Thank you MPG.