RIVERINE
VEGETATION
The
co-existance of limestone and schist on Parnitha favors the
creation of numerous springs. The most important of them are:
Aghia Triada, Mola, Fyli, Kithara, Skipiza and Koromilia springs.
These
springs create numerous streams of seasonal flow. The most important
of them are: the Yiannoula and the Mavrorema streams at W. Parnitha,
the Aghia Triada, Aghios Georghios and Vatourionas stream at
S. Parnitha, the E. Parnitha streams that end up into Kifissos
river and Mola and Charadros streams at N. Parnitha.
On
the stream banks and next to the springs a lot of hydrophilous
species grow, constituting the riverine vegetation. These are:
willows (Salix
alba), planes (Platanus
orientalis), poplars (Populus nigra), ashes
(Fraxinus
ornus), hop hornbeams (Ostrya
carpinifolia), shiny crane's bills (Geranium
lucidum), buttercups (Ranunculus
ficaria, Ranunculus millefoliatus) and horsetails
(Equisetum
telmateia).
During
the fall, the riverine trees (planes, hop hornbeams etc.) shed
their leaves and create a sumptuous color feast, that a capital
city inhabitant cannot easily imagine to be so close to.
