Volirakis Stelios
Astron Hotel
Tel/Fax 0030 28420 26229/24939
Ierapetra, Creta, Greece
contact at chrisi-island.gr

THE VEGETATION-FLORA

The vegetation varies in relation to the island's size. Generally, there are five different types of vegetation:

• cedars' forest ( Juniperus, macrocarpa)
• mixed cedars' and bushy cypresses' forest
• bushy cypresses' forest (juniperus, phoenica)
• rare heaths (firewood)
• sandy seaside vegetation.

The cedar's spreading in Greece is limited. It (the cedar) occurs in some islands of the South Aegean (sea) but rarely the forest's size and structure is as it is in Chrissi and in Gavdos island.The Cedars' forest of Chrissi is more or less the south coasts in extent (350.000 square metres) almost as much as the sandythines of the central-east part of the island. It (the cedars' forest) includes perennial trees up to 10 metres tall and rare short, sandy vegetation (fieldy , Euphorbia paralias,silene ammophila, lack of bushes in the forest's interior. Matthiola tricuspidata, Limoniastrum, monopetalum, Zygophylum album etc). Generally there are no bushes inside the cedars' forest, apart from some places on the outskirts of the forest where there are lentisks (Pistacia lentiscus) and heathers (Erica manipuliflora).

The cedars' density in the forest is 14 trees per 1000 square metres and their average age is 200 years!!Most of the trees are 3 to 7 metres tall. However there is an important percentage of trees which carry 8 or even 10 metres. The average age of these cedars is at least 300 years and the diameter of their central trunk carries 1 metre. The cedars' root system grows within a radius which is at least twice as much as their height!!Apart from the big roots,a huge amount of very thin roots forms a dense network which holds the sand. The cedars' leafage is thick and reaches the ground. So that helps the holding of sand as well as the holding of fallen leaves with the disintegration of which the plant will be fertilized. Another impressive adaptation of cedars is that they excrete hydroscopic salts. Then, during the night, the hydroscopic salts concentrate the atmosphere's moisture and that way the cedars get the water they need.

To the northwest side and the very east place of the island there is a mixed cedars' and bushy cypresses' forest into massive sandy substratum. To the largest part of the west side and the edge of the island's east side, into a rocky ground, there is a forest where the bushy cypress predominates and it also includes quite a few species of bushy plants. The area which covers is almost the 50% of the island To the east and west edges of the island there are rare heaths where the thyme (Corydothymus capitatus), the heather (Erica manipuliflora) and the ladanies (cistus creticus and C.parviflorus) predominate. Among them there are bulbous plants such as the dog-onion (Urginea maritima).. To the sandy beaches there are sandy species of plants such as the monopetalo limoniastro (Limoniastrum monopetalum), the silenes (Silene succulenta and S.ammophila ammophila), the seaside sow-thistle (Euphorbia paralias) and the sea-lily (Pancratium maritimum). The number of Chrissi's vegetable species is big enough in relation to its size and it corresponds to the 1/20 of the Cretan flora. Until today almost 100 species of plants have been registered most of which have Mediterranean or even Southeuropean spreading. There are 13 species which are native Greek, five of which are native Cretan and 1 is Chrissi's and Koufonisi's island native. Quite a few species are rare and are threatened and they are protected by international agreements and laws. The species which become immediately noticeable by the visitor are these which form the cast of features of Chrissi's vegetation. The cedar, the bushy cypress and the lentisk predominate and they exist in both bushy and arborescent form. Into the most narrow part of the island, inside the cedars' forest, there is a clump of few pine- trees (Pinus brutia). In the areas where the vegetation is short and bushy the most common species are the thyme, the heather and the ladanies . At the beaches there are species resistant to conditions of salt's high content, such as the silene, the monopetalo limoniastro, the seaside sow- thistle and others too.The sea-lily (pancratium maritimum) creates clumps to all the island's beaches. This short is relatively common to the South Europe's coasts with an important, however, decline of its number because of the profound human action on the shores the last 20 years. At the east and west edges of the island there are rare heaths where the thyme (Corydothymus capitatus), the heather (Erica manipuliflora) and the ladanies (Cistus creticus and C.parviflorus) predominate. Among them are bulbous plants such as the dog-onion (Urginea maritima).

The most important of the species with a limited geographic spreading is a species of colchicum (Colchicum cousturierj), a species which, in the whole world, exists only in Chrissi and in the neighbouring Koufonisi. From its description's period, which is the year 1967, it hasn't been mentioned from any other place so the existence and perpetuation of the species is connected to the general ecological systems' plants in an important number in Chrissi is the sandy silene, the Cretan lettuce (Crepis cretica) and the alkana (Alcunna sieberj).

In the marine area around Chrissi the variation and the populations of marine species increase rapidly because the water is shallow. Down to 20 metres in depth, the bottom of the sea takes up an area of almost 30 Km2 (almost six times the surface of Chrissi)! Most of the island's animals' species have Mediterranean spreading, while until today native species of Chrissi have not been mentioned. None of the species is dangerous for people. The 25% of the invertebrate species of Chrissi are native Cretan. Generally the fauna is not differentiated. That is to say that the number of figures which stay to the island is the slightest. This happens because just quite a few tens of thousand years ago, Chrissi was part of the bottom of the sea, so the species which settled the island later didn't have enough time to be differentiated. On the other hand, in bigger islands just like Gavdos is, quite a few native species of Crete have created subspecies, such as, for example, the coleopters Carabus bacconi and Dendarus foraminosus

The reptiles' fauna consists of two slow-worms' species, one species of lizard and one snake's species. The caretta -caretta turtle has been frequently observed to the island, but egg-laying hasn't been mentioned. The common slow -worm of houses (Hemidactylus turcicus) exists only near buildings and has probably been transferred by the man. The arched- finger slow-worm (Cyrtopodion Kotschyi rarus) such as the aegean lizard (Podarcis erhardii werneriana), have important populations and they're Chrissi's native subspecies. The one and only kind of snake of the island (telescopus fallax palidus) exists mainly near the wells of Chrissi's west side, and feeds almost exclusively on rodents. There have been totally mentioned over than 120 birds' species. In an overwhelming majority they are migratory birds and they just pass the island. In their long passage, Chrissi offers rest and some food. During the periods of migration we can see a few species of waterbirds , such as the porfyrotsiknias (Ardea purpurea), the Kryptotsiknias (Ardeola ralloides), the lefkotsiknias (Egretta garzetta), the stahtotsiknias (Ardea cinerea), the potamosfirihtis (Charadrius dubius), the Kalamokanas (Himantopus himantopus) and others too. In the nearby Smallisland as well as in different points of Chrissi, hundreds of silvergulls' braces nest. Their presence over there is firsth mentioned in 1415 by the known Florentine traveller C.Buondelmonti. Other species which nest are the artemis (Calonedris diomedea), the myhos (puffinus yelkouan), the mavropetrites (falco eleonorae), the Brahokirkinezo (falco tinnunculus), the maurotsirovakos (Sylvia melanocephala), the wagtail (Motacilla alba), the wild pigeon (Columba livia) the rock swallow (Apus melba) and others too. The island partridge (aleodoris chucar) has been imported by the man many years ago. There are two species of mammals in Chrissi, the houserat (Mus musculus), which exists in Smallisland too, and the rat (Rattus rattus alexandrinus). The hares, which had been imported in the past, have vanished while an all- out effort is made so that the rabbits too are taken away. In the old days, when the Mediterranean seal (monachus monachus) wasn't threatened by the man so intensively used to come out to lie in the sun in the island's beaches. Today, it rarely appears and only the place-name Fokospilios at the north west edge of Chrissi will remind us of its sometimes frequent presence.