The common fresia - a member of South Africa's iris family

The freesia is another non-indigenous species that was cultivated in Maltese gardens that now grows in the Maltese countryside. It is a South African member of the iris family. There are about 16 species of freesias. 

Fourteen are native to the Cape Province in South Africa and two are found in tropical Africa as far north as Sudan. The genus was named after Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese, a German physician who lived between 1795 and 1876.

The common freesia, which is known in Maltese as freżja, has grassy foliage, and wiry spikes of bell-like, lemon-scented flowers in white, yellow, orange and blue. A few decades ago only white-coloured freesias were cultivated but nowadays many other varieties and hybrids can be found in flower and gardening shops. These usually are larger than the old variety and come in an incredible variety of colours. 

Due to their specific and pleasing scent, they are often used in the manufacture of hand creams, shampoos and candles.

In Malta the common freesia can be found growing in such places as Buskett Gardens and the grounds of Verdala Palace. It manages to grow wild because parts of South Africa, where this species comes from, like the Maltese islands has a Mediterranean climate. 

This climate is characterised by warm to hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. South Africa is not the only part of the world with a similar climate to ours. This climatic type is also found in much of California, in parts of Western and South Australia, and in parts of central Chile.

Freesias are used as a food plant by the larvae of some moth species including the large yellow underwing, known in Maltese as baħrija safra kbira. This is a very common species of moth found throughout most of Europe and North Africa extending east all the way to India. It can be seen between March and May and again between August and November. 

This article was published in The Times on 17.02.2010

A genus of nocturnal moths

Dysgonia is a genus of moths. Two members of this genus can be found in the Maltese islands. 

The two species resemble each other and can be difficult to tell apart. They do not have common English names and as happens in such cases it is better to refer to them using their scientific names. Dysgonia algira has been called baħrija tar-riġnu in Maltese while the Dysgonia torrida is called baħrija tar-riġnu Afrikana. 

Both species can be found between June and October. The caterpillar of both species feed on bramble, willow trees, castor oil tree and pomegranate. The moth in the picture was photographed at Fiddien a couple of metres away from a willow tree on which I assume its caterpillar was living. 

Dysgonia algira is found around the Mediterranean, in Asia Minor, Syria and Mesopotamia. Dysgonia torrida is found in Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Egypt, Asia Minor and India.

The genus Dysgonia belongs to the family Noctuidae which is sometimes referred to as the owlet moths. This is a large family of mostly drab-coloured moths, although some have brightly coloured hindwings. The family has more that 35,000 known species. About 1,450 are found in Europe of which about 135 species are found in the Maltese islands.

Most of these species are nocturnal and are often attracted to lights as well as to sugar and nectar-rich flowers. Many are able to avoid bats as they have organs in their ears which are stimulated by the echolocation sounds made by bats. This causes their wing muscles to go into spasms and the moths start to fly erratically thus evading the bats.

Several species have caterpillars that live in the soil and are agricultural pests. These often feed at night and during the day they rest in the soil or in a crevice in its food plant. 

This article was published in The Times on 27.07.10