FLORA
The flora 0f Cyprus is various enough to please everyone from the visitor who just wants to see valleys full of anemones to the serious botanist who wouldb like tp indentfy 400 plus specimens during their couple of weeks stay.
Un doubtedly spring is the time for anyone who wants to see the most prolific colour and greatest variety . Late february through to the end of april are the best months and even then flower availaability will be subject to the rainfall or lack of it temperature .Excessive heat in April can bring about an early end to the flowering period of several species particularly the anemones.
wildflowers
However , there are wildflowers that continue flowering well into may and june . Among these are the monk's cowl or friar's cowl (Arisarum vulgare) the endlessly abundant yellow oxalis ( oxalis pes- caprae) which is an agricultural nuisance growing in the orchardsand arable fields. The verges and hillsides are awash with colour from the wild citrus (rock rose ) that flowers from january to june . The sage leafed rock rose ( citrus salviifolius ) is white with a yellow centre bloom the bushes look like wild sage , hence its latin name . The taurus rock rose (cistus creticus tauricus) is a deep purple /pink , papery thin petaled flower with a much darker leaf and the pink rock rose ( citrus creticus parvifolius) has a quite dark pink flower and greyish green leaf . Like the cistus salvifolius these latter two types also have a bright yellow stamens at their centre .
Asphodels
The two asphodel plants that grow here are the very common asphodelus aestivus which grows everywhere in any type of ground from sea level to mountain top , and the small and delicate , much rarer hollow stemmed aspodel ( Asphodelus fistulosus) the former makes its presence known by its strong and pungent aroma , which smells strongly of cat's urine . It may be because of the citadel walls . Both asphodels have white flowers growing in a conical spear at the top of tall straight stems .
Wildlife
Since farming is not especially intensive in Northern Cyprus , wildlife can often live in harmony with agriculture . The variety of wild animals in Cyprus is low.
Mammals
Foxes and hares play in the cool of the evening and hedgehog ,probably introduced from south Africa has one distinguishing feature which makes it plainly different from the common European hedgehog – it has exrtremely long ears . There is an indigenous species of cow that is bred at a Governmentrun farm of in Çatalkoy and Karpaz. The Cyprus moufflon is an ancestor of the modern day sheep . Sadly it was hunted almost to the point of extinction and now survives , ,in small numbers , in the Paphos forest in the south.
Butterflies and Snails
Butterflies, like the cleopatra and swallowtail , visit the flowers and where the stawberry three is present as a larval food plant , the two-tailed pash a glides through the air. Springtime is the best time to abserve the butterflies when as many as fifty different migrant species pass through. Many species of snail go into a form of summer hebernation known as aestivation and large clumps of them adorn the stems of plants .
Snakes
The snakes have the Kyrenia mountain range as their playground , hibernating during the winter the warm days of spring and summer find them in the warm days of spring and summer find them in the long grass or basking on a wall in the sun . Most species are harmless will quickly slither off when they are aware of someone approaching.
Marine Turtles
In 1991 , the society for the protection of turtles in Northern Cyprus (SPOT) organised a sutudent expedition from glasgow universty to condusct a survey of the nesting beaches around the north coast. this has developed into an on-going project and now involves students from mor ethan ten universities , with volunteers from eight nations.
There are at least seven species of marine turtles world – wide today. The loggerhead ( caretta caretta) and the green ( chelonia mydas) turtles are found in Cyprus . Marine turtles begin their lives on land where they emerge from the nest after forty to sixty days incubation inn the sand . They head off towards the sea , guided by both the slope of the beach and visual cues. It is thought that they spend the next three to five years in offshore waters feeding on pelagic invertebrates and algea although little is known of these ‘lost years'. It is estimated that only one hatchling in two thousand will survive to maturity at twenty to thirty yesars of age .
During the nesting season females will lay between one to ten clutches of eggs . They may nest roughly every one to three years. Recent advances in genetic techniques are backing the theory that marine turtles lay on the same beach on which they were hatched.
In Northern Cyprus the turtles nest between may and august . Hatching starts mid-july and continues until mid-october. The students conduct daytime surveys of some forty nesting beaches around the island , recording activities and any threats such as foxes and dogs digging up the nest and eating the eggs . The turtles are tagged , and the data collected shows that in a loggerhead turtles nesting on the beaches of Northern Cyprus .In 2003 65 green and 207 loggerhead nests were recorded.A very similar total to that of 2002. A record 75% of green turtles nesting on Alagadi Beach where remigrants , having recorded nesting in previous years.
One green turtle that nested in 2003 is currently being tracked via saellite. The daily updated track of the turtle can be viewed at www.seaturtle.org/tracking/ . The project would like to track more turtles if funding is forthcoming . The main base is at Alagadi beach,
this is where nightly surveys of nesting females are conducted and the turtles are tagged . The students welcome visists from visitors hoping to see their ‘own' nesting turtle . It is a good idea to contact the students in the daytime to arrange a time with them
