AEGINA
Plants and Animals

Popular destinations GREECE

Aegina	Alonissos	Andros
Chios	Corfu	Crete
Hydra	Kalymnos	Karpathos
Kefalonia	Kos	Lefkas
Lesbos	Mykonos	Naxos
Paros	Patmos	Peloponnese
Poros	Rhodes	Samos
Santorini	Skiathos	Skopelos
Spetses	Thasos	Zakynthos

Plants and Animals

Plants

Olive tree Aegina_{Photo: Views of Reality CC 4.0 International no changes made}

A major floristic and phytosociological study on the Saronic Islands shows that the diversity of the flora of Aegina is quite high, due in part to its geological diversity, and includes 794 species and subspecies. Most of the species also occur in the same region, for example, Attica, Corinth, Argolis and other Saronic islands. Seven of the 794 species are endemic to Greece including Crocus cartwrightianus from the lissen family. One of the most interesting ecosystems of the island is the rocky coast, where several typical species can be encountered, such as Sedem litoreum from the succulent family, sea fennel or sea chervil, a subspecies of the sea viola, Silene sedoides from the carnation family, Cichorium spinosum from the composite family and Lotus cytisoides from the butterfly flower family.

Greek cyclamen occurs on Aegina_{Photo: Tejvan Pettinger CC 2.0 Generic no changes made}

Black nightshade Aegina_{Photo: Vinayaraj CC 4.0 International no changes made}

Animals

Aegina Rock partridge_{Photo: Richard Bartz CC 2.5 Generic no changes made}

Aegina is an excellent destination for bird watchers, who can encounter many species throughout the year. Some areas known as birding areas par excellence are Mt. Ellanio (Hellanios), the mountain hut of Paxia Rachi and the area outside the village of Kontos. Then catch a glimpse of (common) rock partridges, Sardinian warblers, Western subalpine warblers, Northern wheatears or wheatears and storks, among others.

Aegina is home to a unique delicacy that most islanders are not even aware of. It is a fish known as the Katsoula and can only be found in very special circumstances, which Aegina seems to have. The fish is therefore rarely found outside the waters around the island.

Another well-known fish of Aegina is the flathead grey mullet that lives in shallow sunny waters around Aegina. This fish is converted into Lykourinos, a delicious salted treat.

Flathead grey mullet Aegina_{Photo: Public domain}

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Sources

theworldofinfo.com/greece

Wikipedia

CIA - World Factbook

BBC - Country Profiles

Last updated March 2024
Copyright: Team The World of Info