Trees of Kythira
Trees have held an important place in human culture throughout time, and by extension in island environments such as Kythera, which often survived through the centuries, combining their existence with important aspects of local human geography. It is enough to reflect on the role of the olive tree in the evolution of local society over time, to understand the importance of their existence. Even today, on Kythera we encounter centuries-old trees that are witnesses to important events, tellers of myths and traditions of the island, as well as bearers of knowledge concerning the nature of the island.
Carob
The carob tree is a long-lived, polygamous, monoecious or dioecious tree, native to the Mediterranean. It has brownish-brown, thin bark, dense hairs, usually spherical, pinnate leaves with 4-10 entire leaflets, leathery, deep green and shiny above, pale green below, flowers with a strong odor, without petals, small, in axillary or lateral reddish racemes, usually double, with a small, greenish, pentalobed calyx, five stamens, long in the male flowers, short and, as a rule, barren in the female or hermaphrodite flowers.
It can reach a height of 13 meters, is found on river banks and coastal areas of the Mediterranean and is also known by the name xyloceratia.
The carob tree is a forest, agricultural, industrial and ornamental species. Its wood yields high-quality charcoal, its heartwood is used in furniture making, wood carving, turning and barrel making, while its bark and leaves are used in tanning and dyeing. Carobs are used as animal feed and in the production of alcoholic beverages.
Almond tree
It is a deciduous tree with a height of 4 to 12 meters, a trunk diameter of up to 30 centimeters and elliptical, lanceolate and toothed leaves. The flowers are white or pink, develop before the leaves and are solitary or in pairs. The calyx and corolla are five-membered, the stamens 15-30 and the ovary is mesophyllous.
The undomesticated almond tree appears in excavations in Greece from 8,000 BC to 3,000 BC when it was domesticated. When the Egyptian king Tutankhamun died around 1325 BC, almonds were one of the foods placed in his famous tomb to nourish him in his afterlife. It is clearly mentioned as edible by the Greeks and Persians from the 6th BC century. From Greece it spread to Italy during the 2nd BC. century, the Latin name for almond was nux Graecum, meaning Greek walnut.
The almond fruit in Kythira is first collected from the tree with the appropriate shaking by specialized machines, then dried in the sun usually for ten days, then peeled, and taken to the crushers for shelling.
Cypress
They are trees that reach a height of 30 meters and are shaped like an obelisk. There are few shrubby species that are native to wild rocky areas with spreading branches that do not exceed 7 meters in height.
It is a polymorphic tree and exists in many variations. The most important are two: the pyramidal variation, in which its branches are upright and is also called the male cypress, and the horizontal branching variation, with horizontally spreading branches and a wide, rich crown, which is the well-known female cypress.
The common cypress has been known since ancient times. According to legend, it owes its name to the Cypress from Kos, who was transformed by the god Apollo into a tree so that he would remain immortal, along with his sadness after the death of his beloved deer. So according to this view, it remained as a mourning tree and is planted in cemeteries.
Fig tree
It is a woody tree very common in Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean countries. Its cultivation was also introduced to America in the 18th-19th century. It is the sycamore or fig of the ancients. It thrives in areas with warm and cool climates and at altitudes up to 1700m. Its fruits are eaten fresh or dried.
The tree has been known since prehistoric times. Fossils of fig leaves and fruits from the Pleistocene era of the Quaternary Period were found in the Paris area. Thiscertifies that the plant has existed since prehistoric times in Europe. Specifically, in the prehistoric settlement of Poliochni, on the island of Lemnos, charred figs have been found.
In Greece it was cultivated before the Homeric era. In antiquity, the variety “Vasiliki” was widely known and famous for its quality, which was cultivated mainly in Attica.
The fig, in ancient Greece, was a symbol of fertility and Dionysus, a nickname of which was Sykitis.
Olive
It is an evergreen tree, with opposite, lanceolate, leathery leaves, dark green on the upper surface and silvery on the lower. Its flowers are whitish, single-petaled and very small, forming a racemose inflorescence and appearing towards the end of May, while the fruit ripens and is collected in late autumn and early winter.
The olive tree was the symbol of the goddess Athena. The olive tree has been known since ancient times, and probably originates from the eastern Mediterranean area. According to ancient Greek tradition, the birthplace of the olive tree is Athens, and the first olive tree was planted by Athena on the Acropolis.
The Greeks were the first people to cultivate the olive tree in the European Mediterranean area. They were brought there either by Greek colonists or Phoenician merchants. As Pliny states, in 580 BC, neither Latium, nor Spain, nor Tunis knew about the olive tree and its cultivation.
Plantain
These are large trees, with a height ranging from 30 to 50 meters, deciduous (except for the species P. kerrii) and found on river banks and generally in wetlands and locations where there is water, but they can also survive in drought. The hybrid species of London plane tree adapts without problems to an urban environment, but so do most species in general.
In Greece and Kythera, the plane tree is also associated with many traditions, while large long-lived plane trees have remained famous throughout the ages. An example is the Hippocrates plane tree on Kos, where, by collecting its leaves along with garlic, quince, grapes and pomegranate, a garland called arkichronia is created, a custom celebrated every September 1st, the beginning of the ecclesiastical year.
According to Greek mythology, Zeus and Hera were married under a plane tree near Knossos.
Cedar
The cedar (Cedrus) is a coniferous evergreen tree belonging to the Pinaceae family.
The cedar is characterized by the large size of its trunk. Its leaves are needle-like and rigid, while each of them has two resinous ducts. The leaf of a cedar remains on the tree from 3 to 6 years. The female cones of the cedar are green or purple in color. Cedars are often found in fir forests, because cedars initially provide the shade that firs require to grow during the early stages of their life. The wood of a cedar when burned gives off a scent, and for this reason it is also characterized as an aromatic tree. The cedar does not need much water to grow, nor does it have special soil requirements.