Every year, from May to June, a tiny pink flower unique in the world blooms on the rock of the Acropolis: the Micromeria of the Acropolis (Micromeria acropolitana).

It is an endemic plant of Athens, specifically the rock of the Acropolis, where it grows exclusively.

In January 1981, with a relevant Presidential Decree, it was included in the list of protected plants by the Greek state and the place where it grows remains secret – endangered by human presence, tourist activity, the eradication and cleaning of the archaeological site.

The Acropolis Micromeria has a height of 5 to 30 cm and its flowers are pink in color. It grows with an eastern orientation – to “see” the sun – at a height of 156 meters, on wall stones and crevices with a little soil

The plant was discovered by French botanists Rene CJE Maire and Marcel GC Petitmengin, on August 30, 1906.

Its name, Micromeria acropolitana, was given to the flower by the Austrian botanist Eugen von Halassi in his work “Conspectus Florae Graecae” in 1908

The plant was considered an extinct species from the Greek and world flora for more than a century.

In 2004, 100 years after its first discovery, it was rediscoveredaround the Acropolis by the Greek biologist Grigoris Tsounis and his son Lambros Tsounis, a small population of the plant.

micromereia

They were identified in 2009 by Botany Professor Dr. Kit Tan from the University of Copenhagen.

Sources Wikipedia, dasarxeio.com, environmentalarchaeology.wordpress.com