Cyprus is home to several dozen endemic species and subspecies of plants. [1] The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions treats Cyprus as a botanical country.
Plants are listed alphabetically by plant family.
The Lamiaceae or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender, and perilla, as well as other medicinal herbs such as catnip, salvia, bee balm, wild dagga, and oriental motherwort. Some species are shrubs, trees, or, rarely, vines. Many members of the family are widely cultivated, not only for their aromatic qualities, but also their ease of cultivation, since they are readily propagated by stem cuttings. Besides those grown for their edible leaves, some are grown for decorative foliage. Others are grown for seed, such as Salvia hispanica (chia), or for their edible tubers, such as Plectranthus edulis, Plectranthus esculentus, Plectranthus rotundifolius, and Stachys affinis. Many are also grown ornamentally, notably coleus, Plectranthus, and many Salvia species and hybrids.
Centaurea is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich.
Hedera, commonly called ivy, is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan. Several species are cultivated as climbing ornamentals, and the name ivy especially denotes common ivy, known in North America as "English ivy", which is frequently planted to clothe brick walls.
Anthemis is a genus of aromatic flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, closely related to Chamaemelum, and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. Anthemis are native to the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia east to Iran. A number of species have also become naturalized in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.
Senecio glaucus is an annual member of the Asteraceae and species of the genus Senecio. It is found from the western Mediterranean to Central Asia in sandy, well-drained soil, particularly coastal and desert dunes.
The flora of Lebanon includes approximately 2,600 plant species. Situated on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Basin, Lebanon is a reservoir of plant diversity and one of the world's biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Endemic species constitute 12% of the Lebanese flora; 221 plant species are broad endemics and 90 are narrow endemics. Important Plant Areas (IPAs) featuring the country exceptional botanical richness were defined in 2018.
The precise taxonomy of the genus Allium is still poorly understood with incorrect descriptions being widespread. With over 850 species distributed over the Northern hemisphere Allium is the sole genus in the Allieae, one of four tribes of subfamily Allioideae (Amaryllidaceae). New species continue to be described and Allium is both highly variable and one of the largest monocotyledonous genera, but the precise taxonomy of Allium is poorly understood, with incorrect descriptions being widespread. The difficulties arise from the fact that the genus displays considerable polymorphism and has adapted to a wide variety of habitats. Furthermore, traditional classications had been based on homoplasious characteristics. However, the genus has been shown to be monophyletic, containing three major clades, although some proposed subgenera are not. Some progress is being made using molecular phylogenetic methods, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, including the 5.8S rDNA and the two spacers ITS1 and ITS2, is one of the more commonly used markers in the study of the differentiation of the Allium species.
The Cyprus Mediterranean forests is a terrestrial ecoregion that encompasses the island of Cyprus.