Pink, Blue and Creamy White: Flowers on the Red Trail
For the second year running, selected species of wildflowers along the Red Trail are being monitored. Throughout their flowering season, samples will be taken at 15 permanent locations in order to examine differences in their bloom times from year to year; to learn whether climate changes and cattle grazing impact flowering times; and to collect data that will be used in the management of Ramat Hanadiv's Nature Park.
On these pages you will find updates on the flowering times of the outstanding species on the Red Trail. The title indicates the date when the latest check was carried out.
Flowers on the Red Trail...31/12
As Israel's autumn transitions into winter, this column takes a look at two little wild plants that bloom almost on the ground itself. If you look down, you'll see them:
Mountain ornithogolum (Ornithogalum montanum Cirillo), autumn's last flowers, bloom without a stalk, as do the Sternbergias (Sternbergia clusiana) and crocuses. The flower emerges from a bud within the bulb, buried deeply in the ground, and it opens into a creamy white bloom -- hence its Hebrew name, Netz-halav (milky bud).
Really close to the ground, the beautifully blue-tinted, nail-shaped flowers of Nonea obtusifolia are starting to appear. You can recognize it by the protruding white dots that decorate its green leaves.
