Crete, the largest of the Greek islands is situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. This beautiful island is approximately 250 kilometers long and 56 kilometers wide at most and only 12 kms wide at its narrowest point. The island is like a giant rock garden, with many beautiful plants (and far too many goats!) growing in its stony soils. Many of these are endemic to the island. Where the orchids are found, they can be very numerous in both species and quantity. There are more than 60 species of orchids here, many of them very variable, several with regional subspecies. There are lots of natural hybrids also, making identification difficult. This talk features the orchids (as well as some of the other beautiful wildflowers) seen on a trip there in the middle of April, 2007.

Orchis italica

Orchis pauciflora