Ferula communis - Giant fennel

Giant fennel is not a true fennel (Foeniculum vulgare which also grows in Crete) but it resembles fennel. It is however much taller. It commonly reaches 2 m in height but can be as tall as 3 meters.

This spectacular plant is common at lower altitudes along roadsides, on waste areas and abandoned cultivated land and flowers from March to June. The plants always attract huge colonies of insects,  beetles and bees.

The fleshy stems burn slowly and were used as torches in antiquity. It is with such a torch that, according to Greek mythology,  Prometheus brought fire to humanity

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