strawberry, charming and glamorous (Fragaria vesca)

strawberries

It belongs to the family of Rosaceae, a perennial herb with thin stems that run on the ground and flowers white or pink in inflorescence corium. It grows in cool places. Small berries have emerged from crosses of different species while large fruit comes from indigenous species of America. Strawberries which are not, from a botanical point of view, berries but technically, are aggregate accessory fruits,  multiply   very very quick. Reports of strawberry are found in Pliny and Apicius, while the first cultivations began in 1300.

fast facts about ivy (common ivy, Hedera helix L.)

common ivy

Known throughout Europe and temperate Asia. A woody and evergreen plant that climbs like a helix (helix derives from the Greek word “έλιξ”), a symbol of life and death. Myths and depictions reveal how ivy was acting as an antidote to drunkenness; other testimonies say that they made a blend of nectar, pine cones and ivy fruits to experience sacred drunkenness, escaping from reality, traveling to another world, gods and spirits. Plant with hallucinogenic effect, having though therapeutic properties.

helichrysum, the immortal Mediterranean plant

helichrysum amorginum- Kythera, Greece

Native plant of the Mediterranean, grows in dry environments, contains more than 600 species while in Greece we find about ten. The name "helichrysum" is derived from the Greek words “ελίσσω" which means “to turn around” and "χρυσός" that means “gold” and refers to the golden-yellow flowers of the plant, a plant that needs a sunny climate to bloom. It is also known by other names such as such as “immortelle” as it keeps its freshness and beauty even though it is cut but also “everlasting” since it never withers. The name “sempre viva" appears etymologically from the Italian words "sempre" (= always) and "vivere" (= living), which means “the plant that lives forever”.