Flora

The oak tree of Ishmael or Smailis is located near the village Mathia. Under the tree, camped the men of Ismail Selim Pasha on May 19, 1867, before taking part in the great battle of Lassithi Plateau (21-29 May).

This olive tree has been declared by the Association of Cretan Olive Municipalities as a natural monument because of shape, relief trunk and its connection with historical events. It is located at position Anisaraki, by Kantanos, where there are dozens of other ancient olive trees. Its variety is called mastoid and is grafted on a rootstock of a wild olive tree.

Cretan zelkova (Greek: Anegnoro or Ampelitsa) (scient. Zelkova abelicea) is an endemic bush or small tree of Crete as high as 3-5 meters. It constitutes a unique species of the genre Zelkova, of the family Ulmaceae and is characterized as a living fossil. It took the name "Anegnoro" (i.e. unknown) because when it was discovered, nobody knew its species.

Artikas or the giant fennel (Ferula communis) has a prominent place in Greek mythology as this plant was used by Prometheus to bring people the fire from the gods. The reason is that the interior thick trunk of artikas consists of a soft foam-like flammable material and its burning lasts, making it a natural torch.

One of the most intense scents of flowers that one can meet in Crete is that of the famous Daffodils. The daffodils during the winter months adorned the vases of most houses in the villages and cities of Crete. Crete hosts 2-3 of 6 total species of narcissus growing in Greece, called Manousakia in Crete. The most common and well-known species is the Narcissus tazetta.

In autumn the land of Crete before the first rainfalls fall is adorned with various flowers that bloom literally in the summer dry land, signaling the resurrection of the earth that will follow. The family of Colchicum blooms in the fall and decorates the dry land. The Colchicum plants growing in Crete are all poisonous and this is the main reason they are not endangered with extinction.

The white sage-leaved rock-rose (Cistus salvifolius) is one of the most beautiful white flowers of Crete. It is met in all counties of the island at medium altitudes up to almost 900 meters and always in phyllitic acidic grounds. It is not as well known as its related purple cousin (Cistus creticus) because it does not produce the famous laudanum.

The rocky tulip (Tulipa saxatilis) is a rare species of tulip scattered around Crete, Karpathos, Rhodos and southern Turkey. There is also the endemic rocky tulip of Baker (Tulipa saxatilis subsp. bakeri), that was initially separated from the saxatilis species, but in 2009 was reconsidered as a subspecies of saxatilis.