| Cretan flora has interested botanists, pharmacologists and doctors, geographers, travellers, historians and other writers since antiquity. Between the 5th and the 14th century, however, there were no significant advances in botanical knowledge, since the natural sciences of the time were based mainly on the study of ancient texts. The tendency to criticise and complete botanical works and the need to create new systems of plant taxonomy came to the fore in the Renaissance. It was then that Cretan flora became the object of detailed research. The rich plant world of the island, a transitional type between the florae of Europe, Asia and Africa, attracted the attention of a series of researchers from the 16th to the 20th century. Their observations are presented here, accompanied by the relevant bibliography. |