Anyone who can help with plant or/and insect identification please be in contact. Your help is appreciated! Jearld
Hi! 1. Silene (colorata?) 2. Arum (hygrophyllum?) 3. Ricinus communis 4. Zantedeschia aethiopica 6. Anacyclus maroccanus 7. Allium ampeloprasum 8. Fagonia sp. 9. Thymbra capitata (?) 10. Gladiolus sp. 11. Anchusa azurea + Reseda (alba?) 12. Lavatera sp. 14. Carduncellus pinnatus 15. Lavatera (maritima?) 16. Muscari comosum 17. Roemeria hybrida 18. Chamaerops humilis (?) 19. Ficus carica 21. Orobanche sp. 22. Gladiolus sp. 23. Allium sp. 24. Ranunculus sp. 26. Euphorbia characias 27. Paronychia (argentea?) 28. Cistus (albidus?) 29. Hippuris vulgaris + Batrachium sp. 30. Adonis (annua?) + Galactites elegans 31. Carduus sp. (?) 32. Barlia robertiana 35. Convolvulus (tricolor?) 36. Lobularia maritima + Rhodalsine geniculata 38. Lavatera (maritima?) 39. Anchusa azurea
Dear Lila: Incredibly fast response! I may be able to put another batch together but I'll be leaving to return to Canada to enjoy the freezing weather of February and return to Morocco just as the glorious spring with all its flowering plants starts once again. I really appreciate your help. Jearld
18: Moroccan Fan Palm Chamaerops humilis var. argentea, with Aleppo Pine Pinus halepensis behind. 34: Prickly Juniper Juniperus oxycedrus.
At first glance, I thought #32 was a Dactylorhiza. Thanks for posting these pics - I never knew about the orchid genus Barlia before! I love that pic of the Palms too! Must be a great place to visit!
6. The purple-flowered plant looks like something in the Campanulaceae. The nearest genus I can suggest is Legousia, though with great doubt.
24. Perhaps Ranunculus spicatus from this web page. http://www.teline.fr/eng/Photographies/Toutes-les-familles/Ranunculaceae/Ranunculus-spicatus There are 5 pictures you can get to by clicking on the picture on the page.
Beautiful flowers; certainly a lot more scenery than just sand. Were these pics taken in the mountains?
I think your e-mail is based upon the assumption that Morocco is a desert with little greenery. In fact only on the eastern side does the Sahara begin, occupying between 20-30% of the land. Morocco is a very long and somewhat narrow country that goes through several zone changes in climate and rainfall. In addition it has four distinct and sizable mountain ranges: the Rif in the north, followed by the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas and finally the Anti-Atlas. Morocco does seem to have an incredible variety of plant life and this has fascinated me since I first travelled here decades ago. A few of the pictures posted were taken in a small mountain range near the Algerian border. This range is known as the Beni Snassen range and a chunk of it is designated as a National Park. I hope my reply helps you better understand North Africa's botanical richness.
I found this clump of old palms in the Beni Snassen Mountains north of Oujda. It's a small and quite interesting mountain range with lots of unusual plants, insects and bird life. Similar to another interesting area in the Middle Atlas (Oum el Rabia or Mother of Springs) a large aquifer is the source of a major stream inside an area now set aside as some sort of park/protected zone. Very few people live in or visit the area, at least when I was there last April.
