Trip to Jordan Nov/Dec 2011

[DaveM]

A few more Crocus pallasii subsp haussknechtii to show variation in the single site we visited.

A feature of these crocus that inhabit such dry areas is that the anthers curl over the style to assist pollination. Pollinating insects are few and far between in the autumn and winter months and the crocus flowers seem to do this soon after first opening.

These crocus seem to be well camouflaged and are impossible to spot from a moving vehicle. You have to know where to look - so we were extremely lucky to have Oron as our guide.

To be continued ............

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip Dave. Such conditions are quite hard to imagine when everything here is green and lush at present. It must seem almost a miracle to find the crocus growing in such a place. I look forward to your next posts.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Super pix Dave !
What a formidable scenery ... and the Crocus... 

Thanks for sharing !
Look forward to see more !

[David Lyttle]

Enjoyed your pictures Dave and the accompaning commentary; a very stark and imposing landscape.

[Natalia]

David, what fine photos! 
Тhank you!

[DaveM]

Thank you. Yes, under favourable conditions the desert is very beautiful, particularly when there has been rain and it flowers - you have to be really lucky for that. However, life becomes very difficult during sand storms. On the morning we left visibility in the distance became zero as the sand swirled......

Awesome is a much overused word these days, but I feel it is justified in describing Petra, the ancient city of the Nabataeans. The historic city of Petra is hidden away in the rocky mountains (panorama below in the valley left to right of the middle distance). The modern town of Petra is shown right in the panorama.
The city is accessed through a ravine called the Siq and no more than a few tens of metres wide and flanked by walls of sandstone several hundred metres high. The Siq was carved  out during flash floods. The Nabataeans dammed the entrances to prevent flooding and to store water.

On emerging into the city the first thing you see is the most superbly preserved facade, commonly known as the Treasury. The stone masonary is exquisite. The Nabataean column is a magnificent example, clearly adapted from the classical Greek column heads.

[DaveM]

The extent of the excavations at Petra is huge- just a couple of examples.

There is little evidence at Petra itself of decorations to the rooms (tombs), but at nearby Little Petra one of the rooms has a beautifully intricate plaster painting.

[DaveM]

A few plants from this area ..... some of them relics of its former Mediterranean climate.

Juniperus phoenicia

Daphne linearifolia - quite the most miserable daphne in my opinion, though it did have a moderately nice scent.

Solanum elaeagnifolium

Thymelea hirsuta

[David Nicholson]

very interesting Dave, thanks for posting.

[DaveM]

A visit to Jordan cannot be complete without seeing the Dead Sea at first hand - and quite a bizarre experience too. Within the Jordanian "rift" valley, it is of course the lowest level on Earth reached on land, being some 424 m BELOW sea level. The approach road from Amman clearly states when you are at normal sea level. A dip in the hypersaline lake is a must - just the once. It is 23 degrees C and ten times more salty than the "normal" ocean, so tastes abolutely vile. Floating is instantly achievable - in fact it's more or less impossible not to float - even for me as a non-swimmer in my usual attepts at acting as a drowning whale! However, don't get the salty water in your eyes or in skin abrasions - very sore.

Some parts of the shore display terraces revealing the lowering of water level due to evaporation. Lowering of the level has occurred since there is now no refilling of the Dead Sea by the River Jordan.  Each of these levels contains gravels and layers of salt formed at the sea margin through evaporation. The exposed salt is partially dissolved during rainy periods producing runnel-like features similar to those we see on limestones - yes, this is a form of karst.

Evaporation this year has lowered the water level by a staggering 1.2 m.

[DaveM]

Away from the Dead Sea the Jordanian "rift" is an incredibly fertile area - through extensive irrigation crops are grown throughout the year. Some of the indigenous flora can still be seen and is greatly influenced by plants originating in the Sudan which spread northwards through the rift valley and reached Jordan in wetter times. Thus we see:

Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana

Calytropis procera - the seed pods of this contain a white woolly mass which, when twisted together, was used in the past as the wick for oil lamps.

Ziziphus spina-christi (one of the candidates as Jesus' crown of thorns)

[DaveM]

OK, after the preamble, let's now get down to the good stuff in the Mediterranean zone. just a few pics of the scenery. The dominant tree in this area is the Jerusalem Pine, Pinus halepensis.

[DaveM]

There's also Arbutus andrachne, the strawberry tree with its wonderful fruits.

[DaveM]

 

.... and here come the bulbs (I know that's what you've been waiting for   )

One of the most common is Biarum pyrami, growing even in some of the dryest areas

[DaveM]

The diminutive Colchicum tauri, from a locality not far from Crocus moabiticus.