WILD FLOWERS OF THE ALGARVE
SOUTHERN PORTUGAL

A few yellow flowered plants bloom in the heat of summer. In August a tiny yellow flax flower starts bloom at the road side. There are three different yellow flowered flax plants in the Algarve. This one is Linus tenue: its long thin stems grow from the base of the plant bearing few tiny leaves and a loose raceme of flowers which open one after another.

The most conspicuous is the wild fennel (Ferula tintgitana) whose stems have elongated, between 30 cm and 150 cm, and produce along their length small umbels of tiny yellow flowers that rapidly go to seed. As you walk among these plants a strong smell of fennel sweetens the dry air.

A succulent blooming in early summer is Sedum sediforme, its tassle like clusters of fat succulent leaves often growing on stone walls. The pale lemon-yellow flowers are borne on stalks 30 cm high on three or four branches.

Another delight of late spring and early summer is the small wonderfully curry scented Helichrysum stoechas. It produces lemon coloured clusters of flowers.

Verbascum chaixii is another striking plant. It has a long narrow inflorescence of large yellow flowers each with a prominate red-purple centre. Look closely at the five anthers. Each is covered with feathery purple hairs while the base of each yellow petal is red.

The Spanish Oyster Plant (Scolymus hispanicus) is tall and produces a bright display of yellow flowers along its long flowering stem. This picture shows only a small portion of one branch and illustrates how spiny the plant is. The square whitish stem bears spiny �wings� along its length and the upper leaves and flower bracts are also spiny. It will bloom right through the summer as late as September and is found throughout the Mediterranean