Oil of thyme, the essential oil of common thyme (Thymus vulgaris), contains 20–54% thymol. Thyme essential oil also contains a range of additional compounds, such as p-cymene, myrcene, borneol, and linalool. Thymol, an antiseptic, is an active ingredient in various commercially produced mouthwashes such as Listerine. Before the advent of modern antibiotics, oil of thyme was used to medicate bandages.

Myrtle has been prescribed for fever and pain by ancient physicians since at least 2,500 BC in Sumer.
Myrtle's effects are due to high levels of salicylic acid, the active compound aspirin.

In several countries there has been a tradition for prescribing this substance for sinus infections. A systematic review of herbal medicines used for the treatment of rhinosinusitis concluded that the evidence that any herbal medicines are beneficial in the treatment of rhinosinusitis is limited, and that for Myrtus there is insufficient data to verify the significance of clinical results.

My PlantArea is Greece, which is part of the Mediterranean biogeographical region of Europe.

The Mediterranean biogeographical region and the Mediterranean Sea constitute a frontier zone between Europe, Asia and Africa in terms of climate and species.
 •The climate is warm with hot summers and mild winters. Arid and desert conditions are increasing and water will become more and more scarce.
•Soils are low in humus, and the erosion risk is great in most areas.
•The number of indigenous species is still the highest in Europe.
•There is also a high number of endemics as well as wild ancestors to cultivated plants.

 •Formerly widespread dry grasslands and traditional agro-forestry with dehesa and montados are decreasing, the areas turned to intensive agriculture or abandonned to scrub formation. 

•The intensive agriculture, vegetable growing and the large citrus orchards require intensive irrigation.

•The region is the olive oil, fruit and nut production region of Europe. 

•Though there is only around 25% forest cover trees are a dominant feature in the landscape. 

 •Oaks are important, natural old forests are scarce.

•Sclerophyllous (evergreen) trees, shrubs and dwarfshrubs are characteristic, many with aromatic oil contents.

•There are few lakes and bogs, the area covered by mires is reduced.

 •Wolf and wildcat have spread, but the Iberian lynx is close to extinction.

During summer there is very rare raining and high temperatures. As a result, many plants have to face drought.

Floods 
Occasionally, heavy raining takes place which leads to floods.

High salt concentration
The plants of the coastal areas have to face high salt concentrations (salt-tolerant plants, halophytes).

Herbivory   
There is a lot of grazing in the rural areas of Greece, as the farmers have cows and flocks of goats and sheep.
Snow
There is frequent snowing during winter on high altitude areas of Greece.

In the first volume, Humboldt  described the physical nature of outer space and the Earth. In the second volume, he described the history of science, applying the ancient Greek view of the orderliness of the cosmos to the Earth, suggesting that universal laws applied as well to the apparent chaos of the terrestrial world. 

Cosmos was the scientific bestseller of the age and it had a significant impact on scientific progress. It influenced various scientists and authors throughout Europe and America, including Charles Darwin.

STEP 1 Using your everyday knowledge, which of the following sentences do you think is true?

Replacing fossil fuels with biofuels is highly controversial since it solves one problem but creates new ones.

Beer produced by wheat malt & hop flowers (Humulus lupulus)

Plants of the genus Citrus (e.g. orange tree - Citrus sinensis, lemon tree - Citrus limon, grapefruit tree - Citrus paradise, pergamot orange tree - Citrus pergamis, mandarin orange tree - Citrus reticulate).

Potato plant (Solanum tuberosum).

Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of the tree Syzygium aromaticum. Cloves are used in Greek cuisine in order to give flavour to sweets (e.g. baklava).

In book 9 (of 10) of “Enquiry into Plants” he refers to the medicinal uses of plants. It is one of the first herbals describing juices, gums and resins extracted from plants, and how to gather them. Theophrastus described plants by their uses and attempted a biological classification based on how plants reproduced, the first in the history of botany.

Endangered plant species in my PlantArea:
Milkwort (Polygala helenae) is endemic to Cythera island, Greece. It lives only in two areas of this island. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. It is considered a powerful tonic, like ginseng.

Possible reasons threatening the above species: habitat loss, overcollection, habitat fragmentation, fire and grazing.

A business plan of a local volunteer organization that aims to protect it:
- effective protection of its habitat against fire
- effective protection against overgrazing and maintenance of its natural habitat area
- forbiddance of its collection from natural habitat
- to put it in a seed bank
- to put it in botanic gardens
- to create a wild nursery
- organic farming, if it is necessary for commercial reasons
- to unify (creating a “bridge”) its two populations on Cythera island.
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygala_helenae 

http://floracytherea.blogspot.com/2012/10/blog-post_16.html 

I have read the business plans of other co-learners. I saw that some learners, like me, chose to refer only to one endangered species and to be very specific about the reasons of threatening and the measures proposed in their business plan, while others referred to more than one species and they were a bit more general about threatening reasons and proposed measures of their business plan.

https://www.climatechangepost.com/greece/droughts/ 

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/29/europe/medicane-zorba-greece-turkey-intl/index.html 

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2019-02/crete-flooding-severe-weather-damage.html 

https://greece.greekreporter.com/2018/01/18/record-temperatures-hit-greece-in-2017/