13. The Sea Holly

It's called Sea Holly but it's not related to any Christmas-cardsy plant with bright red berries - it's a cousin of the carrot really! But try sitting in it and you will rapidly appreciate the holly connection! A shrub of  Sea Holly (M: Xewk ir-Ramel) is little more than a dense shock of stiff, spiny, bluish-green leaves, but in summer the plant explodes in purplish bundles of tiny flowers surrounded by more purplish spines on purplish stalks - a thing of beauty really! And a thing of rarity too. Sea Holly grows on sand, but for all our golden beaches, very few of them support this plant. People hate to find spiny plants in spots where they want to walk barefoot and sunbathe, so the Sea Holly loses out every time. The species is in dire need of protection - if not, beach-goers may soon cut and clear it into oblivion.

Text and picture Victor Falzon. Copyright to Birdlife Malta.