Mount Olympus
Flora

The research of Olympus's plants started in 1836, when the French botanist Aucher-Éloy studied them. According to this and later studies, the National Park of Olympus is considered one of the richest flora regions in Greece, with about 1,700 species and subspecies, that represent some 25% of Greek flora. Of them 187 are characterized as significant, 56 are Greek endemic and of them 23 are local endemic, i.e. they can be found only in Olympus, and 16 are rare in Greece or/and have there the limits of their spread within Northern Greece.

An important book about the plants and flowers, from the beach of the Aegean Sea up to the upper regions of Mount Olympus, was written in 1980 by the Swedish botanist Arne Strid.

Most of those found in lower elevation are the common Mediterranean and central European species. Ramonda heldreichii (syn. Jankaea heldreichii), a plant relict of the Ice age, is of particular interest to botanists. The intense diversity of the landscape, the varying orientation of the slopes and their position in relation to the sea affect locally Olympus's climate and so a local microclimate prevails, combined with the geological background and the soil favor the growth of particular vegetation types and biotopes. Generally Olympus's northeast side is densely forested, as it receives the most rainfall, while the southwest one has significantly sparser vegetation.
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