The sea squill – the harbinger of autumn

Sea squill, Ghansar (Uriginea maritima)

The sun has been shining relentlessly on the Maltese countryside for the past five or six months and by now the countryside is parched dry. There is very little green vegetation and very few flower. 

The sea squill is one of the few species of plants that flowers at this time of the year. It is a very common plant, which is impossible to miss by anybody visiting the countryside at this time of the year.

The squill has an unusual flowering pattern.  The tall flowers appear in late summer before the autumn rains when the plant has no leaves. They sprout from a large bulb directly out of the dry soil. The tall fleshy leaves do not appear before the arrival of the autumn rain and dry completely in spring. By flowering in summer the sea squill manages to avoid competition from other flowering plants and attract large numbers of bees to its flowers.

The sea squill has several common names including sea onion and. red squill. Red squill probably refers to a variety of the plant that has red-tinted flowers instead of the more common white. The bulbs grow very close to the surface of the soil and can be quite large. 

They sometimes weigh more than two kilograms. In areas of high soil erosion, they are sometimes uncovered completely and they end up laying on the surface of the soil until they eventually die.

The squill belongs to the lily family in which we also find the asphodels, tulips, garlic and the beautiful star of Bethlehem. The sea squill is known in Maltese as għansar. Another species of squill, known in Maltese as għansar tal-ħarifa, flowers in early autumn. This species also flowers before the leaves appear but it is much smaller and cannot be mistaken for the earlier flowering species.

It has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. In small doses it stimulates the heart and is a diuretic but in larger doses it is an emetic and poisonous. The squill’s medicinal properties have been known since Egyptian times. Their use has been recorded as far back as 1500 BC, while in Greece both Pythagoras and Hippocrates, used it in the 6^th and 5^th centuries BC. The juice of the bulb causes blister when they come in contact with the skin. It has been used as a rodenticide and is being studied for its insecticide properties.

In Israel the sea squill has gained an almost iconic status and is popularly known as the ‘harbinger of autumn’ due to the fact that the flowers pop out all over the country at the end of the dry summer, some time before the first rains. During the New Year celebrations, the Greeks hang the bulbs of the sea squill in the house as part of a fertility rite. 

This article was published in The Times on 9 September 2009.

The shiny yellow autumn buttercup

Autumn buttercup (Ranunculus bullatus)

During the past few days summer gave way to autumn. The air became cooler and enough rain fell to stimulate bulbs, corms and tubers to start growing leaves and to initiate the process of germination of those seeds that had been lying dormant in the soil from last spring or earlier. 

The change from parched brown to fresh green takes place incredibly fast and the change from green to bright yellow which will take place within a few weeks time is even faster.

Plants with underground storage organs have an advantage over plants which have to germinate from a seed.

This advantage makes it possible for them to flower soon after the arrival of the first rains. This weekend I found one of the first plants to flower in autumn, the autumn buttercup.

This plant, which is known in Maltese as ċifolloq, has shiny yellow flowers. It can be found growing in garigue, maquis and steppe.

In the next few days the flowers of the autumn narcissus (narċis imwaħħar) will also appear in the same habitats. These will be followed by the yellow-throated crocus (żagħfran salvaġġ) which is found mainly in garigue and steppe habitats in the Buskett and Dingli area. 

There will also be less showy plants for which you will need to look more carefully. Among these is a small orchid known as autumn lady’s tresses (ħajja u mejta). Most of these flowers will disappear by the time winter officially starts by which time many other species of winter flowering plants will be in bloom.

Autumn in Malta is a time of rebirth. The autumn rains give life to the countryside and many species of plants make the most out of the available water and sunlight to grow rapidly before the arrival of the colder and darker winter months.

This article was published in The Times on 19.10.11

Grasshoppers

As autumn turns to winter one starts seeing less insects in the countryside. Last Sunday while taking pictures at Selmun the only insects I saw in any number were grasshoppers. Several jumped into the large spaces between the stones of an old wall and walked slowly on the white limestone dust into the inner part of the wall until they disappeared from view. 

Grasshoppers overwinter as eggs, nymphs or adults so the ones I was observing could be looking for a suitable place to lay eggs or to hibernate.

Grasshoppers are familiar insects with short antennae and large hind legs. Sometimes the hind legs have short projections that are rubbed against the lower edges of the forewing to make a noise during the day. The legs are hard and can exert a lot of force and this gave rise to the idea in Malta that grasshoppers are armed with a knife which they use for self defense.

It is estimated that there are about 11,000 species of grasshopper in the world. Most live in tropical areas especially in rain forests. About 25 species are found in the Maltese islands. Some species are very common and you will see them jumping away from you wherever you walk in the countryside. Most are greyish brown and blend perfectly well with their surroundings. 

Some species have brightly coloured hind wings which are normally kept hidden under the forewings. They are uncovered only when they are flying. Te bright colours have an important function. 

When danger approaches these insects rely on their excellent camouflage for protection but if a predator approaches too closely they fly away startling their enemy with their bright colour for long enough to be able to fly away. They do not fly very far away but as soon as they land they disappear again.

Grasshoppers eat mostly vegetation and some species can become pests.

They have an incomplete metamorphoses as when they hatch the young look like small wingless adults which grow progressively larger as they break out of one exoskeleton after the other until they reach adulthood.

In Africa and in other parts of the world where they occur in large numbers, grasshoppers can be an important source of proteins, minerals and vitamins especially in times of food shortage. 

This article was pubished in The Times on 8.12.10