[ Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) | Posted on December 30, 2023 ] According to the tour guide, this is the only native tree to the mediterranean around Malta and Sicily to grow tall enough and provide decent shade. Its seeds can be used for food, and to make gum. It forms massive root structures growing in crevices of hard limestone rock, typical for the region. |
[ Carlina gummifera | Posted on December 30, 2023 ] A small, flat thistle like plant, with spiny oblong palmate leaves growing around a rosette. Pink inflorescence typical of thistle type asterids, shielded by smaller, spiny leaves. It is mostly covered in gray like wool, to help it blend with the surroundings. Since it grows in areas where cacti thrive, it is extremely drought tolerant. |
[ Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa) | Posted on December 17, 2023 ] I tried the fruit. They have to be really ripe to eat. Otherwise...like an uncanny berry like syrup. Very sweet, very strong taste, almost like that of campari liqour. Maybe like a mix of straweberry, vanilla and caster sugar...that being said oddly off-putting. |
[ Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata) | Posted on July 7, 2023 ] Observation notes: It took about....6-7 years for a new offshoot rosette to reach maturity and bloom. It has not been in ideal conditions (but not poor either). Spent most of its time in a bright room (but not near a window), and sped up its growth in the last couple of years after being moved outside. It took 3 weeks or so for the stalk to fully develop and bloom. The flowers themselves opened in quick succession one after another in the span of an hour once the temperature dropped after a sudden rain. I assume it might be pollinated by nocturnal animals, given the pale flowers. |
[ Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa) | Posted on June 24, 2023 ] Compared to the larger Y. gloriosa, this one has several distinctive features: |
[ Erect Pricklypear Cactus (Opuntia stricta) | Posted on June 4, 2023 ] The plant, at least the spineless but with glochids variety, resembles a larger, more erect version of opuntia humifusa. It is one of the hardier opuntias, usually growing in zones where Agave americana does. |
[ Green-Winged Orchid (Anacamptis morio) | Posted on May 21, 2023 ] One of the rare wild orchids found in SE Europe, this one was supposedly one of the species with tubers used for Salep production (most herbology books list this species as the one, under Orchis morio). |
[ Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea) | Posted on November 10, 2022 ] The fruit has red flesh, which actually tastes how it looks. A mix of meaty and berry like flavor, sweet-ish with texture like that of the common passion fruit, if albeit more viscous. |
[ Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) | Posted on November 1, 2022 ] A thorny, often shrubby perennial plant, found in heath and in mountain meadows. Its unusually shaped leaves set it apart from any lookalikes, and the showy red berries are a give-away in autumn. Taste is that of a dry, almost sweet, oily avocado. |
[ Saltcedar (Tamarix africana) | Posted on September 9, 2022 ] Superficially it resembles a Thuja or Cypress until one notices the flowers |
[ Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa) | Posted on September 8, 2022 ] Fruit is sweet, similar to a blueberry but without the flavor. White pulp with black seed. |
[ Dragon Fruit (Selenicereus undatus) | Posted on September 8, 2022 ] Outside the native habitats and where it's cultivated, this plant happens to grow in some of the more shaded areas in Malta , often near fences and walls , sometimes outcompeting Opuntia ficus indica for space. Ive seen it wrapped around a palm tree, some 4 meters in height. Bloom time there (and I mean roughly peak season) would be end of August ( I caught this one late blooming season). By the first couple of days of September I think most blooms have expired. Ones in sunnier conditions bloom less profusely, and are often smaller in stature. |
[ Sea Squill (Drimia maritima) | Posted on September 8, 2022 ] Cant speak for other habitats, but it is a rather common dweller along Malta's roads and arid areas. From a distance resembling a dry reed, this summer bloomer discards its foliage to conserve water in its bulbs. It tolerates poor quality alkaline soil (Malta just happens to be 20-30 cm -- about 1 foot) of compost on top of limestone, and very hot and arid weather(pretty much a typical xeriscape plant). Up close the typical asparagales flowers consist of white petals with dark lines on them with a yellow center, arranged in the same typical asparagoid inflorescence. |
[ English Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) | Posted on August 30, 2022 ] Ripe fruit taste is one reminiscent of a very astringent and even more sour...sour cherry. |
[ Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) | Posted on July 17, 2022 ] This plant gained popularity in my country roughly around 2010, advertised as some sort of wondercrop healthfood and such malarkey. Now it's somewhat widespread as the berries can be found in the tea and frozen food industry. |
[ Echeveria 'Fabiola' | Posted on April 26, 2022 ] Superficially resembling E. purporusom, this hybrid is set apart from other hybrids and cultivars by wider and fewer flowers, which protrude on a short stalk, and the near lack of patterns on its blue-grey faceted leaves. |
[ Fairy Tongue (Crassula exilis subsp. schmidtii) | Posted on September 5, 2021 ] A small herbaceous succulent. It somewhat doesn't look the part, so people gloss it over at markets as a houseplant rather than a sought-after succulent like the relatives c.ovata or c.perforata or c.perfoliata. Leaf margins have cilia, stems have a red tint. |
[ Jujubes (Ziziphus jujuba) | Posted on September 2, 2021 ] I've eaten fruit from an unknown cultivar. Apparently a while back there used to be a huge orchard with lots of trees lying about. Thorny trees with dense foliage. That area had been neglected for a while, but the trees seemed to be fine regardless. Fruit is sweet. Can't really describe the texture very well, save for calling it dry, crunchy, a bit foamy, somewhere between apple and apricot. Flavor, other than sweet' lacks any discerning features save for some tints of "plant," "wood" and "fruit" here and there. Bletted(or fermented), it's a different story when the fruits taste similar to dates, slightly stronger flavor, gooey texture. After this they begin to catch mold quickly. They have a rather short shelf life and a short season, often fruiting around October. |
[ Job's Beard (Sempervivum heuffelii) | Posted on August 8, 2021 ] Plant is similar to S.tectorum and S.calcareum in most aspects regarding care: cold outdoor winters, partial sun exposure, likes fresh air, dislikes being wet in summer. Only thing different is the way the rosettes clump (growing directly from the base, instead of making a creeper/adventitious structure), making propagation a bit more difficult. Flowers are also different looking, being similar to other members of what used to be the genus Jovibarba (sempervivum globiferum), in a sense that they are all white and partially closed. |
[ Aichryson (Aichryson laxum) | Posted on June 6, 2021 ] A small, herbaceous shaped succulent superficially resembling the related genus Aeonium. Plants are covered in trichomes save for the roots and flowers. Leaves are spoon shaped (thin near the base), growing in loose rosettes, which cease growing upon flowering and dry out. Flowers are yellow, resembling those of sempervivum (also related) and aeonium. Inflorescence is a bit chaotic, if it can be called such. Branches profusely. |