Pistacia Lentiscus (Mastic Tree)
At the lower altitudes of Troodos we find the Pintacia lentiscus. The Mastic tree is an evergreen, aromatic, resinous bush or small tree, up to 5 m high, with a smooth and usually grayish cortex. The leaves are arranged alternately, composite, winged, arthiostatic, 5-10 x 3-7 cm. The leaflets are carried in 2-4 pairs and are oval, elongated or elliptical, leathery, dark green, with the ridge often evidently impinged. The flowers are monogenous and the plant dioica, so the plants are either male (only male flowers) or female and produce fruit. Male flowers are staggered, while the females are carried in stumps, in the armpits of the leaves. It blooms from February to March. Its fruit is spherical and hollow, around 5 mm in diameter, red in the beginning, but gradually becomes black and glossy during maturation, from September to December.
The Mastic tree is protected by the Forestry Legislation and logging of the shrub or small tree of relatively large dimensions (diameter of the trunk at a height of 130 cm above the ground greater than 15 cm) is required by the Department of Forests. A significant part of the areas covered by the habitat types in which the species is the main or parasitic species have been included in the NATURA 2000 Network. Cyprus has the obligation to take all necessary management and other protective measures to keep them in good conservation status.
Location
Flora - Fauna
Quercus Calliprinos (Palestine oak)
The quercus coccifera calliprinos belongs to the family of the Fagales, which includes eight genera and about 1,050 species all over the globe. It belongs to the oak genus, which includes around 600 species. We can see them in many areas in Cyprus, inc
Quercus Infectoria (Oak Tree)
The oak tree (Q. Infectoria ssp. Veneris) is a large-sized tree and belongs to the family of Beech trees, which includes eight genera and about 1050 species. In Cyprus there is a natural spread, the Golden oak, the Palestine oak and the Kermes oak. The
Sorbus Aria (Whitebeam)
Sorbus aria is a deciduous tree of 5-6 meters without thorns and blooms from May to June. It lies at the highest altitudes of Troodos on rocky slopes and gaps of forests in the Mediterranean vegetation zone. It is an East-Mediterranean species, with sp
The A.G. Leventis Troodos Botanical Gardens
These botanical gardens were created by the Department of Forests at the edge of the asbestos mining region. Built on the Troodos National Forest Park land, at an altitude of about 1400m, it was named after the Anastasios Leventis Foundation. The Found