The Sicilian Squill

Sicilian squill - Scilla sicula 

The Sicilian squill is a perennial plant endemic to Malta, Sicily and Calabria in southern Italy. 

The plant grows from an underground bulb that can survive in shallow soils in valleys garigue and maquis. In Sicily and mainland Italy it is a very rare species. In Malta it used to be considered as rare but nowadays it seems to have increased and is considered as a scarce plant. In fact it does seem to be increasing. 

A few days ago I found it growing in good numbers in a valley along the south Maltese coast. In one area I found a patch of soil in which there were more than thirty plants in flower and many others plants still to flower.

The flowers are light bluish grey. Sometimes they are so light that they are nearly white. The inflorescence consists of small flowers growing around a short stem creating a pyramidal shape.   

In Maltese the Sicilian squill is known as għansar ikħal.

The scientific name of this species is Scilla sicula. The Scillas are found mostly in the hot arid regions of the Mediterranean.

Scilla is derived from the Greek word for ‘to hurt’ or ‘harm’. The name was given to this genus because of the poisonous nature of the bulbs. It is also similar to Scylla a mythical twelve-headed sea monster which in ancient times was believed to live opposite Charybdis a vortex from hell. The Greeks believed that Scylla and Charybdis lived in the Straits of Messina. When navigating through the dangerous straits Greek sailors had to decide whether to sail close to Scylla or Charybdis.

This article was published in The Times of Malta on 27 March 2014.

Silky yellow sea poppy

Glaucium flavum - Yellow-horned poppy - peprin isfar

The yellow horned poppy is one of the few indigenous plants that flowers during the summer. It is a biennial or a short-lived perennial. The flowers are similar in size and structure to those of the common poppy but are yellow instead of red.

The seeds are formed in a long thin pod.

The yellow horned poppies is native to many parts of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. It was introduced in many parts of the United States and in some places it is considered as a weed.

In Malta it is most common along the north and east coast of Malta. It grows near the sea and is never found far inland. It prefers sandy areas but it can also be common in rocky areas especially in dust or soil-filled depressions.

In Maltese the yellow horned poppy is known as peprin isfar.

The leaves are thick and leathery, an adaptation to life close to the sea. The thick leaves store water in them and they are covered in a layer of wax which stops water from being lost through them.

The first flowers appear in late April, although it is not easy to find a plant in flower so early in the season as they start flowering in earnest in early June.

Like many other plants, the yellow horned poppy is both poisonous and medicinal. Every part of the plant is toxic and eating it can result in respiratory failure and even death. A clear yellow oil is obtained from the seeds. The plant’s main medicinal component is known as glaucine. This substance has properties similar to those of codeine. It is used in some countries as an antitussive but it can have side effects such as sedation, fatigue and can also bring about hallucinations. 

Thos article was published in the Times of Malta on 4 September 2013

Fascinating organisms

200 lichens are found locally

Last Saturday I gave a lecture about nature photography to group of young people. I was surprised by their knowledge of plants and animals as they were able to easily identify most species of plants and animals that I showed them.

However what surprised me more was the fact that none of them could tell me what lichen is.

This was surprising because lichens are common everywhere being able to grow in the most unusual places including  bare rock and walls even in urban areas. About 200 lichens have been recorded in the Maltese islands but I am sure that with some effort more unrecorded species can be found.

Lichens are unusual because each species is made up of two organisms, a fungus and an alga, living intimately together. This gives lichens the ability to survive under harsh conditions where no other organism can survive.

In some cases the fungus and alga which make up a lichen can be found living separately in nature but in many cases the two organisms have become so dependent on each other that one can not survive without the other.

Lichens do not have leaves or roots and absorb nutrients directly through their surface. This leaves them susceptible to air pollutants which accumulate in their body without being eliminated. 

Lichens can tolerate different concentrations of pollutants with some species dying at lower levels than others. This makes lichens excellent biomonitors and many species are used to indicate levels of environmental pollutants.

Many species of lichen are eaten especially in times of famine despite of the fact that they can be difficult to digest. Many species also contain mildly toxic compounds although few species are poisonous. 

Some species are used to produce dyes including the pH indicator litmus.

This article was published in The Times on 07.03.2012

Wild orchids

Orchids are my favourite group of plants. They are fascinating mainly because they are beautiful and interesting and although there are many species none of them is common.

Orchids have been arousing passions for a long time. In the Victorian era adventurous individuals embarked on orchid hunting trips in central and south America and Asia mainly to collect specimens for gardeners and horticulturalists in Europe and the USA. They often went back home with large numbers of rare species and long tales about their dangerous expeditions. 

Today many orchids are legally protected and it is not allowed to collect or export them. Although illegal trade in orchids still exists modern orchid hunters collect images. They are equipped with cameras, identification books and notebooks and often publish their results in specialist websites. Some restrict their hunting to a particular country or area while others travel and wide.

In Malta orchids can be found from the end of December to early June most species are in flower in March and April. 

Thirty eight species of orchids have been recorded in the Maltese islands. Over the past two decades the number of recorded species has increased partly because new species have been found by plant enthusiasts but also because what was considered as one species, the brown orchid, is now considered to be five different species. 

These species belong to a group known as the insect orchids. Male insects, especially bees and wasps, are attracted to the flowers which look like female members of the species. They land on them and attempt to mate. While their attempts to mate are unsuccessful they unknowingly end up with pollen on their back which is then transferred to another orchid of the same species which manages to trick them into landing on it. 

Some species of orchids enhance their performance by producing chemicals known as pheromones similar to pheromones used by female insects to attract males.

Finding, photographing and identifying orchids is an interesting and challenging hobby that can give days, weeks and months of satisfaction.

This article was published in The Times on 29.02.2012

The things you didn’t know about wildlife and colour

The poppy

Carnival is over, bringing an end to five days of colour that added some cheer to life after weeks of dull cloudy weather. 

For this carnival as in previous years many designers were inspired by the most colourful species in nature particularly parrots, butterflies and fish. 

Colours are used as an effective means of communication giving such messages as “I am good to eat”, “I am dangerous” and “I am a good partner”. 

On the other hand colours are often used as camouflage to hide the animal from prey or predators.

Many fruits and berries change colour from green to red as they ripen. 

Plants want birds and mammals to eat their fruit only when the seeds are fully developed and until this happens the fruit is not fit to eat.

Flowers use colour to attract pollinators, especially insects. 

Bright colours are easily seen against a green background but what we see is not necessarily what insects see because although insects, like humans can distinguish colours, their range of vision is different from ours. 

Insects are able to see ultraviolet light which we are not. Thus some flowers that are plain to us have lines and patterns that guide the insects to the nectar.

Many orchids are shaped and coloured like particular insects to mislead males into thinking that they are females and thus land on them and unwittingly carry pollen from one flower to the other.

This article was published in The Times on 26.02.12)

Fruit of the zesty kind

Another Citrus Festival was organised by the President of Malta last Sunday to raise funds for charity an event which also helps to highlight the importance of orange production in the Maltese islands.

Orange trees are not indigenous and do not grow wild in the Maltese countryside but in the past the orange was an important crop and many large groves could be found in the central parts of Malta and parts of Gozo.

Oranges have been cultivated in the Maltese islands for a very long time. Many varieties of oranges can nowadays be found in the Maltese islands but the best known is a local variety which produces ‘Maltese oranges’.

In the 19th century saplings of Maltese orange trees were exported in large numbers and nowadays Maltese oranges can be found growing in several Mediterranean countries as well as in other parts of the world including the United States of America where they are known by other names.

The orange tree, like other citrus fruit trees, is native to Southeast Asia and was probably planted around the Mediterranean by the Arabs during the ninth and tenth centuries. Christopher Columbus is said to have taken orange seeds with him to the New World and now Florida has become one of the main orange producers in the world.

Several other citrus fruits including a large number of varieties are cultivated in the Maltese islands but except for lemon trees they do not grow wild. The lemon is a hybrid tree that originated in Asia. It probably entered Europe through southern Italy sometime during the First Century AD.

It is widely cultivated in the Maltese islands and sometimes one finds solitary trees growing in the countryside.

These trees were probably planted by farmers but managed to survive without further help after the fields in which it was planted were abandoned.

The lemon has a variety of culinary and non-culinary uses. It is widely used in traditional medicine and whole books have been written about it. Lemon is a strong antiseptic and antibacterial and is a rich source of vitamin C and antioxidants.

This article was published in The Times on 25.01.12

Plant with thick leaves in the shape of a heart

Ice plants belong to a large family of plants most of which are indigenous to southern Africa.

A few species can be found in Australia and the Central Pacific.

A number of species have been cultivated in Maltese gardens for many years and because of their ability to regenerate easily from pieces of broken stem have become naturalised in the Maltese countryside especially in the vicinity of gardens. .

The most common species are probably the heartleaf ice plant and the sword-leaved ice plant.

These two species can grow profusely and cover large areas of ground. They both produce large numbers of small red or pink flowers but it is very difficult to tell the two species apart.

They differ mainly in the shape of their leaves, one has heart-shaped and the other slightly pointed leaves but the leaves vary and sometimes it can be very difficult to tell the two species apart.

I have never met with a Maltese name for these two plants but they are so common in gardens and urban areas that I am sure that they do have a Maltese name.

Another well known species of ice plant is better known as the Hottentot fig.

In Maltese it is known as xuxet San Ġwann or perhaps more commonly as il-pjanta tas-swaba.

This species has thick succulent leaves and large pink flowers that can attract large numbers of bees and other insects in search of nectar and pollen.

In parts of the world with a climate similar to that of southern Africa notably parts of Australia, California and the Mediterranean this species has invaded large areas and has displaced indigenous species to the detriment of the areas’ biodiversity.

This has happened along parts of the Mediterranean coast where it now completely covers large tracts of land. Although these plants can be removed mechanically one must pay particular attention not to allow pieces of the plant in the soil as these can easily regenerate.

This article was published in The Times on 11.01.12

Bright Red and Christmassy

Poinsettias grow as small trees in Maltese countryside

The spurge family is made up of about 2,000 species of flowering plants which produce a milk-like liquid which exudes from the plant whenever it is damaged. 

About 20 species are found in the Maltese islands although not all are indigenous. The best known species is the poinsettia. 

In Maltese it is called punsejetta although many refer to it as the Christmas flower. 

The poinsettia is native to Central America and was named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico who was also an amateur botanist. Poinsett found the plant during one of his visits to Mexico and sent samples to his country.

 In the Maltese islands poinsettias can be found growing as small trees in the countryside especially in fields close to farmhouses.

The eye-catching, large, red ‘flower’ is not a flower but a bract of leaves with small flowers in the middle. To turn red the leaves require at least twelve hours of darkness for at least five days in a row hence the ‘flowering’ during the Christmas period. 

As a result of this the plant has become a very popular Christmas decoration and present. The cultivation of poinsettias has become a large industry. Large scale cultivation started about a hundred years ago in the United States and has now spread to many other parts of the world including Europe.

Many wrongly believe that the poinsettia is very poisonous. Such a belief is understandable because the latex of other spurges can be toxic. The toxicity ranges from slightly irritating to fatal. 

Six to eight seeds of the castor oil tree (riġnu), another member of the spurge family, are enough to kill an adult. The poison found tin the seeds, ricin, in 1978 was used by the Bulgarian secret police in London to kill Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov. 

The caterpillars of spurge hawkmoths which feed on the leaves of spurges are brightly coloured because their body assimilates the poisons from the leaves they feed on which provides them with protection from predators. 

This article was published in The Times on 04.01.12

Of seeds with ‘papery wings’

The sandarac is Malta’s national tree. It was presumably chosen because of its rarity in the Maltese islands. 

Its main range is in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Outside North West Africa it is found only in Malta and Cartagena in southeast Spain.

It is a conifer and like all conifers the seeds are produced in cones. 

In this species the cones are between ten and fifteen millimetres long. When young they are green, turning brown as they age. 

They consist of four thick scales arranged in pairs to form an uneven sphere. When the cones open, the seeds which have papery wings float gently to the ground.

In Maltese the sandarac is known as għargħar, a semitic name that indicates that this tree was already present when the when the islands were occupied by the Arabs. 

Up to about thirty years ago it was thought that this tree grew only at Maqluba, near Qrendi, but a small grove was found near Mellieħa. 

In the past this tree was said to have been much more common especially in the area around Birkirkara and around the village of Għargħur.

It is a tree adapted to the hot dry summers of the Mediterranean. It can survive burning and can re-grow from cut or burnt stumps. Trees that have been burnt repeatedly over a long period of time form burrs known as lupias. 

Burrs are stress-induced deformations usually in the form of rounded outgrowths of the trunk. Burrs are usually highly prized and sought by furniture makers and artists. To obtain the lupias the sandarac trees are destroyed and this has led to large parts of Morocco being deforested.

The tree produces a resin which is used to make a varnish which was used to protect paintings and antiques. For many centuries sandarac was the only varnish in use until it was replaced by cheaper varnishes. 

In parts of North Africa the resin is traditionally used to make a liquor and as a remedy in cases of difficult childbirth as well as to reduce cramps. Sandarac is burned to treat colds or taken internally to treat roundworms and tapeworms.

The wood of the sandarac is known as citron. In Romans times it was often used in house building and is still used in cabinetry and to make decorative objects. 

This article was published in The Times on 21.12.11.

The healing field marigold

The field marigold is a member of the daisy family. It is native to central and southern Europe including the Maltese islands. 

It has now been introduced in many countries throughout the world in some of places it is considered as a pest. 

In Malta we find two subspecies of field marigold one of which even exists in two varieties. 

This makes identification of this species somewhat confusing a situation which is not made any easier by the fact that the daisy family which is made up of over 20,000 species is the largest plant family. In Malta the daisy family is represented by about 120 species.

The two races of field marigold are known in Maltese as suffejra tar-raba’ and suffejra kbira tar-raba’. The variety being shown in the picture has been named suffejra tar-raba’ ta’ ġiex kuluri.

The field marigold is widely cultivated as a garden plant but it is better known for its medicinal properties. 

It is said to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and has been used extensively to heal wounds. It is believed that its anti-bacterial properties are partially a result of the structure of its sugar which stimulates the body’s immune system. 

To heal minor wounds the leaves and petals can be ground or crushed into a paste, mixed with water and applied to the wounds. The flowers have also been used to treat stomach ulcers and gastrointestinal problems for hundreds of years.

Plant identification is an interesting and sometimes challenging task. Until the invention of modern pharmaceuticals most people interested in plants were pharmacists and doctors who studied botany because many plants were used for medical purposes. 

Botanists today still study plants because of their medicinal value but a growing number of enthusiasts are taking an interest in wild plants as a hobby. 

This article was written in The Times on 30.11.11

Of gourd ladybirds and the squirting cucumbers

Many species of animals and plants are closely linked together. In some cases the relationship benefits one species only and in others both species benefit from the relationship. 

This relationship often means that if one species had to disappear the other would not be able to survive on its own and would cease to exist as well. 

One such relationship is that existing between the squirting cucumber (faqqus il-ħmir) and the gourd ladybird (nannakola tal-faqus il-ħmir).

The squirting cucumber is a common plant with large leaves and yellow flowers. The fruit are oval and when ripe they shoot out the seeds. The seeds emerge with such force that they can land up to one metre away from the parent plant thus helping the plant to disperse. 

The squirting cucumber grows in disturbed habitats along country lanes and in urban areas.

Whenever you find a squirting cucumber you are also likely to find the gourd ladybird. This species of ladybird spends its entire life on the squirting cucumber. Ladybirds are known to be predators. 

Most feed on insects especially aphids but I have never seen this species eating other insects. I have often seen the adults in the flower of the squirting cucumber probably eating pollen. 

Adult ladybirds often carry a sprinkling of pollen on their wings which indicates that they could be transferring pollen from one flower to another thus aiding pollination.

The eggs are laid on the plant and the larvae spend their entire life on it. I have not found any literature on the life cycle of this species but I have seen small parts of the surface of the leaf on which a larva of this ladybird is living eaten away which indicates that the larvae feed on the leaves on which they live.

My observations indicate that the relationship between these two species is beneficial to both species. The plant provides the food for the larvae and adults while the adult ladybirds help to pollinate the flowers. 

This article was published in The Times on 16.11.11

The common autumn squill

This common flower is so difficult to notice. It is about five centimetres high with very small light pink flowers that blend perfectly with the light coloured soil common in the arid rocky areas where this plant grows. 

It is also difficult to see it because when it is blooming there are no green leaves to attract your attention. The leaves appear above ground after the end of the flowering season.

The flowers appear in the autumn soon after the first rains. Like other species of autumn-flowering plants it is able to do so because of the food stored in the bulb which had been manufactured by the plant during the previous season.

The autumn squill is known in Maltese as għansal tax-xitwa. It is widespread in Mediterranean countries from Turkey to Spain as well as further north as far as southern England and the Middle East all the way to northern Iraq. In Malta it is common in the right habitat

Two other species of squill are known in the Maltese islands. The large squill, known in Maltese as għansal selvaġġ, is probably extinct from the Maltese islands. The Sicilian squill, għansal ikħal in Maltese, is a regional endemic found only in the Maltese islands and neighbouring islands including Sicily.

Until some years ago the autumn squill belonged to the same group of plants as the other two locally occurring squills but recently its name was changed from Scilla autumnalis to Prospero autumnalis. 

Prospero is the main character in The Tempest one of Shakespeare play. 

I had read this play when I was still at school but I cannot imagine why this tiny flowering plant was named after this character. Perhaps if I re-read the play I could get some clues that would help me solve this problem! 

This article was published in The Times on 2.11.11

Appreciating the richness of our country’s biodiversity

Autumn grape hyacinth

Last Sunday I was at l-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa taking pictures of the fauna and flora. Until fifty years ago the area consisted mostly of garigue habitat. This habitat consists of rocky ground with depressions and fissures containing a thin layer of soil. 

Many species of aromatic shrubs such as the Mediterranean thyme grows in such a habitat. The thyme provided nectar to bees which produced the much sought after thyme honey for which the area around Mellieħa was well known. 

A few decades ago it was decided to replace this important habitat with woodland. Most of L-Aħrax nowadays consists of low trees under which grow non-indigenous plants especially the Cape sorrel (ħaxixa ngliża).

Here and there one still finds small patches with plants that must have been present when the area was still garigue.

Among these patches last Sunday I found the autumn narcissus (narċis imwaħħar) and the autumn grape hyacinth (ġjaċint tal-ħarifa). The latter is a small plant with blue bell-shaped flowers. This is the only species of grape hyacinth that flowers in the autumn. It grows in patches of soil in garigue habitat in a small number of localities and I had not seen it for a number of years so I spent some time taking pictures of the small interesting flowers.

What struck me most during day was that as people arrived to picnics at L-Aħrax most of them seemed oblivious of their surroundings. They saw the trees but did not distinguish between the different species and I was sure that they had not heard the robins singing loudly in the trees beneath which they were sitting and they did not notice the different flowers some of which ended up crushed under their feet. 

I do not expect others to be expert naturalists but I realised that by not being aware of the fauna and flora of the Maltese islands many fail to fully appreciate the richness of their country’s biodiversity. 

This article was written in The Times on 26.10.11

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

The moonflower – an alien species

The moonflower is another alien species that first came to Malta as a cultivated garden plant and which is now thriving in the Maltese countryside. Although it is not as common as some other alien species such as the ubiquitous Cape sorrel (ħaxixa ngliża), when present, it is very noticeable because of its large leaves and white or pink flowers.

The flowers of the moonflower open at night and close early in the morning. Their light colour, large size and fragrance make it easier for the flowers to be seen in the dark especially by moths particularly the hawk moths.

The moonflower is a native of the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the American continent. It can be found all the way from northern Argentina to Mexico and Florida.

In Malta this species usually flowers between March and July but in gardens, where it is watered in summer, and in humid valley bottoms it can continue blooming until much later.

This plant is rich in sulfur, an element which is still used in vulcanisation of rubber, a process discovered by Charles Goodyear in 1839 but in southern America, the natives had been using the moonflower to vulcanise the latex of two plants to make bouncing rubber balls 3,000 years before him.

The moon flower belongs to the convolvulus or bindweed family the group in which we find many species of bindweeds which are known in Maltese as leblieb as well as the morning glories. It is in fact it is most closely related to the garden morning glory, the popular garden plant. 

A number of closely related species are used as food while others are used medicinally. Others contain psychoactive substances which were used in religious and spiritual ceremonies to induce an altered mental state similar to that from modern drugs such as LSD, opium and some mushrooms. 

This article was published in The Times on 14.09.11

The flower that blooms at 4 p.m.

Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa)

The marvel-of-Peru or as it is known the four o'clock flower gets its English names from its country of origin and from its habit of opening its flowers in the late afternoon. 

It is a widely cultivated plant that is also found growing wild in the Maltese countryside. In Maltese it is known as ħummejr. 

It is believed that this plant was first exported from the Peruvian Andes in 1540.

The plant grows along country roads and lanes and can be easily recognised by its large number of brightly coloured flowers. 

The flowers can be of different colours ranging from yellow to red with some flowers being white, striped or marked with different colours. Sometimes differently coloured flowers grow simultaneously from the same plant. More surprisingly the colour of the flowers growing on a particular plant change in colour as the plant matures. Thus a plant that starts off by having yellow flowers ends with dark pink flowers while a plant with white flowers starts producing light violet flowers.

The marvel of Peru flowers from late spring to early autumn. The flowers remain open well after sunset and are pollinated by long-tongued moths such as the hawkmoths which are attracted to the flowers by a strong sweet-smelling fragrance.

Parts of the plant are said to be very toxic and can have effects similar to that of LSD. They can cause digestive disorders and abortion. 

As with many poisonous plants this species also has medicinal value. It is used as a laxative, or to treat constipation and to expel intestinal worms. The flowers are used in food colouring particularly as a crimson dye which is used to colour cakes and jellies. 

This article was published in The Times on 07.09.11

The field bindweed: A bright funnel-shaped attractive flower

Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

Maltese summers are characterized by high temperatures and lack of rain. Many plants survive this difficult time as seeds. This results in a dry brown countryside. Where it not for the thousands of trees that have been planted during the past fifty years or so it would be very difficult to find any green vegetation. 

Few species of plants are able to flower but those that do immediately catch one’s attention. One of these species is the field bindweed (leblieb tar-raba’). This species grows in fields and gardens from early summer to early autumn. It also grows in similar habitats such as patches of soil in centre strips and along roads.

The flowers of this plant can have different colours. They are usually white or pink but can also be striped white and pink. As practically no other plant is in flower the bright funnel-shaped flowers are very conspicuous and often attract one’s attention to their beauty. Flowers come in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes and scent but their beauty is not there to please us but to attract insects especially bees which are essential for pollination. 

The most attractive part of flowers are the petals which induce insects to land on them and to visit the nectaries from which they obtain nectar.

To make it easier for the insects to locate the nectaries, many flowers have lines or other markings called nectar guides which lead the bees to the centre of the flower where the flowers’ reproductive structures are found. 

Some of the guides are visible to humans while others can only be seen in ultraviolet light which is invisible to humans but which bees can detect. The nectar guides make it possible for the bees to collect nectar faster and more efficiently. This is advantageous for the plant because of more efficient pollination. 

This article was published in The Times on 10.08.11

Rare ferns

Several species of ferns have been recorded from the Maltese islands. Most are rare or very rare. On the other hand one species, the maiden hair fern, known in Maltese as tursin il-bir, is relatively common. It can be found in caves, wells, in valley bottoms and in damp courtyards of old buildings. 

Like many other ferns it thrives in humid habitat away from direct sunshine although some species such as the rusty-back fern (felċi tal ħitan tas-sejjieħ) can live in full sun and requires little humidity. This species is found in Western and Central Europe including the Mediterranean. In Malta it is very rare. The only time I saw it, it was growing on a large boulder in the middle of a dry valley in a spot not reached by the rays of the sun. In some parts of Europe it was used medicinally as a diuretic.

Most other ferns recorded in the Maltese island are also very rare with some species not having been seen for decades. Two or three species are aliens, that is, they were imported into Malta, probably as cultivated species, and can now be found growing wild.

Ferns are primitive plants. They have stems, leaves and roots like other vascular plants but instead of seeds they produce spores and thus do not have flowers. About 12,000 species are found in the world. About twelve have been recorded in the Maltese islands.

The oldest fern fossil records are from 360 million years ago. In geological terms this would be the beginning of the Carboniferous period which lasted until 299 million years ago. The name of this period comes from ‘carbo’ which is the Latin word for coal as during this period many of the coal beds were laid. 

The coal formed because of the appearance on earth of bark bearing trees which found the right climatic conditions for growth and possibly also because the animals and decomposing bacteria which can digest lignin, the main component of wood had not yet evolved with the result that the wood remained on the ground until it was covered by sediment and eventually changed into coal 

This article was published in The Times on 27/07/2011

The chicories' medicinal properties

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

The chicories are perennial plants that add a touch of colour during the summer months. The most common is the chicory, ċikwejra in Maltese. Its light blue flowers can be seen between May and October. Anybody visiting the countryside during the warmer months is likely to see the plant protruding out of the dry vegetation. It grows throughout most of Europe although it is doubtful whether it is native in northern parts.

The spiny chicory is less common but can also be found with a little effort. In Maltese it is known as qanfuda meaning like a hedgehog an obvious reference to its shape and spines. The flowers which appear in May are very similar to the more common species but the flowering season is much shorter and they disappear by the end of July. This species is native to the Mediterranean region and is well adapted for the region’s hot dry summer.

The chicory has been cultivated in Europe for many centuries as a medicinal plant. In some countries, especially in poorer regions, the roots are baked and ground to be used as a substitute for coffee.

Chicory contains chemicals that can eliminate internal parasites such as worms and it is sometimes added to animal forage to help reduce internal worms. It is also said to have many other medicinal properties including as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinusitis, and for cuts and bruises.

A related species, the endive, is also found in Europe. Several varieties of this species are cultivated in many countries including Malta although it does not seem to be as popular as other leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach even though it is known to be very healthy as it is rich in vitamins A and K, minerals, foliate and it is also high in fiber. It is available for sale in spring at about the same time as the globe artichoke and the two are often cooked together as their tastes compliment each other. 

This article was published in The Times on 18.05.2011

The harmful effects of herbicides

A few weeks ago I wrote that road side verges provide the right conditions for many species of flora and fauna. I also wrote that I had not seen herbicides being used to re­move this vegetation for many years and I was hoping that this practice had stopped. Last week I saw two teams in different parts of Malta using herbicides on pavements.

I do not understand this obsession to remove any living things from built up areas. Wild plants not only provide habitat and food for butterflies, bees and other insects but also have aesthetic value. They add colour to their drab surroundings and cover ugly concrete and rubbish. But, while accepting that some people cannot appreciate nature and use their power to anihilate it, it is unacceptable that herbicides are sprayed on pavements.

Herbicides are poisons that are used to kill vegetation. Many if not all of them can also harm humans, pets and wildlife. The toxicity of herbicides varies greatly as does the time taken for them to break down. Some are programmed to decompose after a relatively short time so that crops can be sown in soil after they have been sprayed but, while the breakdown products might not kill plants, there is no guarantee that these products do not harm humans and other animals.

Furthermore, anybody using a pavement has no option but to walk on poisoned ground. Children and pets are more vulnerable to poisons and their small size and the fact that they are closer to the ground makes absorption of poisons faster and easier. And even if children and pets had to be kept inside, a person walking on a poisoned pavement can unwittingly collect poison on his or her shoes and transfer it to his or her home where his children or pets come in contact with it.

There are indications that some herbicides are carcinogenic and, although acute toxicity comes only from exposure to large quantities of herbicides, even low doses might have long-term problems.

Using herbicides to remove vegetation might be the cheapest way to remove unwanted vegetation but our health and environment are worth more than that.

This article was published in The Times on 11.05.2011