Article in Business daily for our new edition:

The new English-language guide "Olympic Flowers" has been released, documenting the flora of Mount Olympus, featuring 372 illustrated plants, a map, and an updated list of 1,983 plant species, making it ideal for hikers and nature lovers. A new English-language edition titled "Olympic Flowers – Field Guide to the Flora of Mt Olympus" presents the plants that hikers encounter on Mount Olympus, many of which are endemic. The book was published by Anavasi Editions and serves as a comprehensive field guide to the mountain's flora.

The authors of the work are the leading botanist and expert on Greek flora, Arne Strid, and the researcher and photographer, Lefteris Kipopoulos. The edition includes a map of the area at a scale of 1:40,000, making the book a valuable tool for every hiker, nature lover, and scientist. As Mr. Kipopoulos explains to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, "it also contains an updated list of the 1,983 recorded plants of Olympus, 372 of which are included in an illustrated guide and represent those that a mountaineer is most likely to encounter along the routes." Most endemic species are located in the alpine zone, at an altitude of approximately 2,900 meters.

Mr. Kipopoulos, a retired educator, has dedicated over two decades to documenting the mountain flora of Olympus. He believes that through this publication, all volunteers who contribute to botanical research are honored. As he emphasizes, "I am interested in promoting Olympus as a botanical destination and raising public awareness so that people do not uproot plants and, goes without saying, do not litter."

Flora as an Experience for the Visitor

The publication offers visitors the opportunity to get to know the mountain's flora and add a different dimension to their hiking. "In other words, to encourage people not to just look at the time it took them to ascend, but to admire and recognize the plants that exist along various routes," notes Mr. Kipopoulos, explaining that the species selected are those most likely to be encountered on the trails of Olympus. At the same time, he highlights that in recent years, the main volume of visitors ascends from the side of Pieria, specifically Litochoro. "However, the back side of the mountain, the Thessalian Olympus, is disadvantaged because it is heavily burdened by livestock farming. Nevertheless, those seeking something new away from the heavily beaten paths will encounter more pristine places, with great interest for mountaineers, climbers, and hikers," he adds.

A Complete Guide to the Flora of Olympus

At the end of the book, an alphabetical index is provided, where the flora species are classified by family, along with information about their habitat, flowering period, and distribution. A complete list of the 1,983 recorded species of the area is also included. Arne Strid has served as a Professor of Botany at the University of Copenhagen and Director of the Gothenburg Botanical Garden. With more than fifty years of research activity on Greek flora, he has contributed decisively to the documentation and promotion of the country's plant species, discovering dozens of new ones. From his doctoral thesis in 1970 to the present day, he has extensively explored many regions of insular and mainland Greece.