Crepis fraasii

Κρηπίδα του φράασι

Etymology of Crepis fraasi: The name "Crepis" derives from the Ancient Greek "κρηπίς" which is "a platform, the base with stairs, on which the temples were built in ancient Greece", because of the formation of its leaves on where the stems with the flowers stand. It was named fraasii after Karl Nikolas Fraas (1810-1875) who obviously discovered it.

There are about 200 species in this genus. In Cyprus, we encounter ten of them. Their flowers are more or less the same.

In Cyprus, Crepis fraasii is primarily absent from the Mesaoria region, elsewhere it is very common. We can find it often under shady places, in pine forests or in areas with low vegetation. Crepis fraasii grows at an altitude between 50-1950 metres. Its flowering period is from April till June.

How to identify Crepis fraasii:

It is a perennial plant with a thickened, premorse rootstock and tough, fibrous roots; the pappus-hairs are not tousled, they are rather rigid (unable to bend or be forced out of shape); the apex of peduncle and base in involucre are thinly tomentose (densely covered with short matted woolly hairs), often glandular; the basal leaves are lyrate-pinnatisect with a broad, blunt or acute terminal lobe. The leaves are typically vivid clear green, dense, wide and elongated, grown horizontally on the ground, forming a rosette.