Itamos 2000 years old in Sithonia – Tourists cut its leaves for medicine

It takes its name from a century-old itamo that has stood stubbornly proud for 2000 years, undaunted even by a lightning that “struck” it!

Mount Itamos – or Dragoundelis – in Sithonia Halkidiki is a forest paradise, still unexplored by many, and dominates the settlement of Parthenon.

The century-old itamos

A few meters away from the forest road, in an area with scattered boulders, the old itamos still stands proudly. Fenced and signposted, it is a Protected Natural Monument attracting many visitors.

“The name of the species is Taxus baccata and all its parts are poisonous except the fruits which are red. In fact, the reason that they are not poisonous is so that the birds eat them and thus their seeds are transported to other places”, says the head of the Directorate of Forests of the Halkidiki Regional Unit, Dr. Pavlos Bekiaroglou.

“Because it’s a century old”, he continues, “it won’t say that it can withstand too much, it’s a very sensitive tree”. Its characteristic is that it reacts very slowly to any discomfort it feels, i.e., as Mr. Bekiaroglou emphasizes, if it now feels a problem due to thermal boredom, i.e. due to the high temperature, it will show this after 5-6 years, not now, a characteristic that the centenarians have but especially the itamos has in a wide range.

The tree, he estimates, is at the end of its age and has also received a lightning strike that burned its top.

In addition, it also accepts vandalism by various tourists who take pieces of it for it is thought that in small quantities, its poison is a medicine for some diseases, with the result that its leaves and branches are cut.