An introduction to the Haškcovec article in IRG for August 2011 ....
Valley of Butterflies This part of Antitaurus mountain complex has no
Cedrus libani (it occurs in Taurus Mts. west of the Cilician Gates). The only conifer,
Abies cilicica, is hidden in Emli Valley, just under and behind that big country steppe which the Haškovecs recently showed us in the IRG. No larger shrubs (taller than 30 cm) or trees spoil the main smooth and flat design of nature there in steppe you must cross using 5 km long dirty road to reach the oasis of Emli Valley.
The bottom of Emli Valley has a small forest of juicy green Abies cilicica and I can see here in large screes, instead of classic short trunk of
Cedrus libani, just the strong trunk of Cedrik Haškovec taking a portrait of a Lamium with a fat Nikon camera in his big hands.
From some reason (probably the deep valley is nice shelter from cool winds) there are millions of butterflies of all sizes, with prevailing small azure blue ones. Here are four species of Acantholimon well protected from thousand of sheep and goats. The best local hedgehog plant is
Acantholimon venustum, which was for years distributed from here under wrong name
A. acerosum brachystachium.
I know this area in high summer time when some limestone cliffs shine with slender lampposts of porcelain white
Michauxia laevigata and flat areas are dotted with bloody red
Sedum sempervivoides.
The late Joyce Carruthers reported from a limestone ridge at altitude 1800 m a locality of pink
Pelargonium endlicherianum, which I know only from steep serpentines and from our rock garden.
{photos are from Mojmír Pavelka (Sedum and Pelargonium)}
In August water supply is short here (only one dropping rusty pipe is offered), so the sheep and insects are thinned for the pleasure of late visitors. To see this great valley in springtime is pleasure for me and I must thank Cedrik and Štěpánka for their flower show offered for summer issue of IRG.
