The purpose of the Cyclamen Society's second expedition to the Peloponnese was to extend the area where C. repandum were to be found, with special emphasis on C. repandum ssp. peloponnesiacum forma vividum. The team consisted of Melvyn Jope, John Fielding and Peter Moore.
We flew overnight to Athens, took the bus to Zea Marina and then by "Flying Dolphin" hydrofoil made our way out to the island of Poros, arriving in time for breakfast at George's taverna - a feast not to be missed, especially as we were then led (dragged) still without sleep on a tour of the island. We found three tortoises, masses of C. graecum and C. hederifolium and some Fritillaries. Worn out, we returned to Poros Town for a late supper.
Next morning we took the ferry to Galatas on the mainland. After the first day's march, we were quite convinced we were on our way to walk round the Peloponnese and were relieved to find the car awaiting us. We headed west, through Nafplio to Astros, following the route of the 1992 expedition. Thereafter on an unexplored road between Ag. Andreas and Ag. Pandeleimon we found and surveyed our first site of C. repandum ssp. peloponnesiacum forma vividum (referred to hereafter as vividum) growing in profusion among Fritillaria graeca: a memorable sight for our first site. The typical Greek scrub was also host to a sea of Anemone blanda, A. coronaria and Fritillaries. We returned to Par Astros for an evening meal of octopus.
Next day we decided to follow the same road to its highest point. We drove above the village of Prastos beyond the road marked on our map to a height of 1500 m (4,900 ft). The forest was still partially covered in snow and although we found two species of Crocus, Scilla biflora and a tulip species, no sign of cyclamen. We dropped down 100 m (to 4,600 ft) and found vividum, not in flower but at that height it should be hardy, so we collected a few. We returned to Prastos hoping to buy something to eat, but this mountain village was at this time of the year devoid of any humans, even stray dogs. Recording sites down the road towards Ag. Andreas, we were rewarded by the sight of Iris unguicularis flowering among the cyclamen.
Next day we took the coastal road towards Leonidi and collected and surveyed at 25 m (80 ft). Some of the team took to their shorts but the wire-netting bush caused the third member of the team to be more circumspect. Here we found a colony of silver-leafed C. hederifolium quite different from those in cultivation; deeply lobed leaves mainly with an overall silver wash. The Easter season was starting and accommodation at Leonidi was hard to find. Hotels varied between full and unmentionable, but eventually we struck gold. Then we went on a wild goose chase after a locally reported C. persicum colony, but could find only more vividum. After supper we joined the Easter procession, glorious except for the little boys and their firecrackers. The priests in all their regalia, the town band and the candlelit procession will long be remembered.
On the road again towards Vaskina, and another sight never to be forgotten: Site 12, a mass of vividum growing in very old derelict terraces as far as the eye could see. Add to that Fritillaria graeca, Ophrys tenthredinifera, Orchis quadripunctata, Crocus cancellatus, C. hederifolium and C. graecum, and one's cup was full to the brim. It gently overflowed when we found the white vividum! Pure white nose to the flower and the faintest pink flush to the tips of the petals. We even managed to survey another site after that - near Paleohori.
Sunday saw us on our way to Githeo, collecting plants at 1050 m (3450 ft) near Kosmas, and surveying a site at 500 m (1640 ft). Beyond Kosmas was a further site and the first signs of C. repandum ssp. peloponnesiacum forma peloponnesiacum (referred to hereafter as peloponnesiacum), mixed with vividum: we collected some of each form. We then crossed the Parnon down into peloponnesiacum country previously covered by the 1992 expedition. We stayed the night at Githeo, in a room with no windows and very noisy plumbing.
Not very refreshed, we left Githeo for Monemvasia, heading into the Madara mountains and into vividum country. We surveyed two sites near Kremasti in the Madara mountains to the south of the Parnon mountains. The last sight we had of vividum was in a windy tundra area which was reminiscent of Wuthering Heights. The road towards Monemvasia then descended into flat farming country and there was no further sign of cyclamen. Monemvasia was a Byzantine port of considerable size but as the importance of shipping declined it slowly became deserted: a population of 60,000 shrank to 10. It is now being restored and is well worth a visit before it becomes a tourist attraction. Our evening drink was accompanied by the songs of warblers, the call of the cuckoo and the sight of a bee-eater.
The following day we drove down south to the Lakonia peninsula and were entertained to coffee by a super old Greek couple. Their hospitality made up for our disappointment at the lack of cyclamen, though we did find a C. hederifolium with a leaf that measured 18 cm (7 in) across. North of Githeo we surveyed a site in an area of thousands of acres of burnt scrub where peloponnesiacum was thriving. We then went on up to Sparta for the night.
After buying our lunch in the fruit and vegetable market in Sparta we drove to Ag. Petros to a site visited by the 1992 expedition. Blackbirds were feasting on golden-berried mistletoe and we collected some berries to try to establish them in England. Ag. Petros is where peloponnesiacum and vividum meet, and at our first stop the colony was just peloponnesiacum. We drove on to our first survey where a small quantity of vividum was recorded among the peloponnesiacum and masses of violet-scented primroses. A mile further on the terrain had changed to an exposed area where vividum had taken over: roughly 80% vividum to 20% peloponnesiacum. Overhead a hawk was feeding its young on a ledge in the cliff and as it left its nest it was mobbed by a pair of ravens. Driving north through Tripoli, we stayed the night in the mountain village of Vitina in the Menalo range of mountains.
Although the Menalo mountains appeared the most obvious area north of the Parnon mountains where C. repandum species might be found, search hard though we did, we could not find any. The terrain seemed correct and the usual associated plants were evident. We were prevented from covering some of the area as roads had been destroyed by avalanches, nevertheless we did cover a large proportion of the mountain range. At Stemnitsa we saw Crocus sieberi flowering just below the snow line, and lower down sheets of the violet-scented primroses and A. blanda. Further north in Kalavrita, a mountain village at the base of Mount Helmos, our disappointment at not finding any cyclamen was assuaged by the finest "Kleftico" I have ever eaten.
Fortified by reports from Jim Archibald that peloponnesiacum was to be found on Mount Helmos, we sallied forth next morning to the base of the ski run. The vast plateau below the snow-covered slopes was a sea of purple: Crocus sieberi and a spring-flowering Colchicum, both interspersed with a yellow-flowering Crocus. Not a peloponnesiacum to be seen. We made our way back to Kalavrita searching as we went, to no avail. We phoned Jim to get precise details of location, and off we went again along the northern flank of the mountain. Before we even got to Jim's location we found peloponnesiacum just below the monastery at Mega Spileo and again further north and west. After carrying out surveys we returned to Kalavrita for the night. The "Klefticon" was off!
Having had a report that spring-flowering cyclamen had been seen from a boat near Corinth, we decided to look for it while driving on our way back to Poros. No signs of cyclamen along the coast road, and at Corinth we and our noses found the sewage works but never a sniff of cyclamen. From here we returned south to our base at Poros.
The initial impression that we gained in the field is that vividum is confined to the area of the Parnon and Madara mountains and that it mingles with peloponnesiacum in a limited area. It would appear that vividum enjoys very different growing conditions - open exposed sites similar to those that graecum enjoys - and requires less shade and protection from shrubs and rocks. By contrast, peloponnesiacum is happy only in moist woody conditions, often close to streams.
Individual flowers of vividum are very uniform in colour and the main difference is caused by the extent the colour at the base of the petal extends to the top of the petal. The colour at the base of the flower is a very uniform 64B on the RHS colour chart, and there is no sign of the distinct colour zone that is evident at the base of the peloponnesiacum flower. In vividum the colour at the base of the flower merges up the flower, and in the best forms the colour at the base extends to the tip of the flower. The leaves of vividum are dull in comparison with peloponnesiacum, much more uniform and are usually red underneath, whereas peloponnesiacum are more often green underneath. Identification between the two formas is not easy by a study of the leaves but the flowers are quite distinctive.
The range of peloponnesiacum from the south to the north of the Peloponnese is very extensive, and it would be very interesting to know whether it occurs further north on the Greek mainland. Both vividum and peloponnesiacum seem to be thriving, and there was strong evidence of regeneration. There is no feeling that either of the formas is endangered.