Crete separated off from continental Greece about 5,000,000 years ago. This isolation, together with the existence of large mountain massifs which have functioned as ''botanical islands'' within the same island, explains the great degree of endemism among its plants, since 1 in 10 is indigenous. More than 1,700 different species are met on Crete. Such wealth can be better understood if it is considered that Great Britain, which has a surface area about 30 times greater, has fewer species of which hardly a single one is endemic. This book presents more than 500 plants - the most representative of the island - from the most common to the rarest. Little explanatory texts which focus on the botanical characteristics of the plants, on mythological references to them and often on the etymology of their names, together with a large number of photographs, make the book an essential source of reference for every nature-lover.