Hypericum aciferum
- The plant species Hypericum aciferum
grows on coastal rocks in the area of Sphakia (between Sougia and
Agia Roumeli), at the southwestern part of Crete, and nowhere else
in the world.
- It was first identified in 1965 by the Swiss botanist Werner Greuter
as Elodes acifera.
- It is a perennial, short creeping shrub, with a height of up to 20-30
cm and length up to 130 cm. It flowers from June until October and its
flowers are small with yellow petals. Its seeds mature from November
until December.
- It is protected by the Bern Convention and is included in the Annexes
II* and IV of the Habitats Directive. It is an endangered species
according to the Red Data Book of Rare and Threatened Plants of Greece.
- To date, it is not yet known whether the plant has pharmaceutical
properties as do other related plant species and thus it has not been
utilised by man.
- In the framework of the CRETAPLANT project, the Micro-reserve of the
plant has been created in an area of 6.5 hectares in the locality of
Fournoti, west of Agia Roumeli village.
