The Rabbit’s Favourite — by Paul Grech on

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It is a scene so common that it is far too often ignored.  Whether you’re walking in the countryside or simply past an abandoned building...

Thorny Issues — by Paul Grech on

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If looks have any bearing, few we dare a second look at the ground thistle.  This is one fierce looking plant that in the early days of it...

The Unnoticeable One — by Paul Grech on

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If one were to draw a list of the least appreciated wild flowers there are then this would be very much near the top.  Whilst others migh...

Beauty, Unappreciated — by Paul Grech on

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As soon as the Azure Window collapsed into the sea the search was on for new natural beauty spots to fill the void.  A similar arch in Wi...

Basking In The Sun — by Paul Grech on

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There is an admirable resiliency in those plants that manage to survive the heat of the Maltese summer in the wild.  Forget to water do...

Intelligence of Nature — by Paul Grech on

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One of the most fascinating aspects of nature is the opportunism with which it imbues living organisms.  Plants and animals alike shape ...

Faint Echo of Jackdaws — by Paul Grech on

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When a jackdaw ( ċawla ) was shot in Gozo in April 1956, it marked the passing of a species that up till a hundred years earlier had been...

Not Just Any Poppy — by Paul Grech on

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The purple poppy.  When I was a child that is what we used to call this flower whenever we came across it.  And I find that it is what mo...

A Wildflower Of Many Talents — by Paul Grech on

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It is sometimes difficult to appreciate just how much of what we see around us is a recent addition.  This does not necessarily refer to ...

Recalling Bronte — by Paul Grech on

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Heather.  The word brings to mind the wind-swept Yorkshire moors of Emily Bronte novels which this flowering plant populates.  It is large...

The White Flower of November — by Paul Grech on

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Come November and as Maltese fields receive their first real consistent dose of rain they tend to be taken over by this plant that then pa...

Deadly Vanilla Flavour — by Paul Grech on

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Blink and you’ll miss it.  In fact, most people do.   There is something fleeting about this plant that produces a long head covered wi...

Seaside Wonder — by Paul Grech on

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Trips to the seaside have become so sanitised that one beach looks practically exactly like the next one.  People expect the same experie...

Only In The Afternoon — by Paul Grech on

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This has to be one of the wild plants that produces the most colourful and attractive flower so much that some people use them to bring...

The Squirting Plant — by Paul Grech on

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One of the great beauties of nature lies in the variety of reproduction mechanisms with which plants are equipped through evolution.  I...

Snapshots of The Maltese: The First Conservationist — by Paul Grech on

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For years, his was a lone voice in the wilderness.  Guido Lanfranco was talking and campaigning about the importance of conserving nature wh...