''Adonis cyllenea'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the family

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are '' Ranunculus'' (600 species), '' Delphiniu ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to Greece.

Geographical distribution

''Adonis cyllenea'' is one of hundreds of rare plants that have been removed from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

mountain sides. Adjacent to Mt. Oligirtos existed an unbotanized mountain, Mt. Saitas. Mt. Saitas lies practically at the same latitude as Mt. Lafkas. At this location G. Sfikas, a keen naturalist and photographer from Athens had rediscovered the ''Adonis cyllenea'', which was presumed to be extinct, in 1976. Very little was known about the botanical importance of Mt. Saitas. However, this location proved to be an amazing place, because more than 100,000 individual plants of ''Adonis cyllenea'' were rediscovered at an altitude of approximately 1400-1800m. This area certainly holds the largest existing population of the ''Adonis cyllenea'' in Greece. This yellow and sometimes orange anemone from the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge whi ...

was thought to be extinct for 130 years prior to this major rediscovery, which was an exhilarating moment for modern scientists, botanists and naturalists. ''Adonis cyllenea'' is also cultivated in the botanical gardens of Copenhagen or Gothenburg where it can be found in their designated Greek flora section among dozens of other native Greek plants.

Physical characteristics

''Adonis cyllenea'' grows throughout the entire spring season. Exposure to sun and warm conditions are ideal for the growth of ''Adonis cyllenea''. Heights of these plants may range anywhere from to . Orange or yellow flowers are often characteristics of ''Adonis cyllenea''. Flower color is variable within the species and changes with drying, and diagnostic features of the fruit are reliable only when achenes are fully mature.

References

Sources

* *Tan, K., Perdetzoglou, D.K., Roussis, V. (1997). "''Biebersteinia orphanidis'' (Geraniaceae) from southern Greece." Ann.Bot. Fennici 34: 41-45. ISSN 0003-3847.

Geographical distribution

Physical characteristics

References

Sources

Further reading