Asphodelus lusitanicus

Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae

 You can find the Asphodelus in the mountains of the Nacional Park. It's an herbaceous evergreen plant that only develops a flowering stem in Spring. It's common in areas affected by fires.

This flower had a strong mithological meaning in Classic times. The Greeks though that one's soul would roam in Asphodel meadows after death. They planted them in graves, relating them to the passage to afterlife. 

 It is also in the Greeks that we find references to their edibility. The poor used to eat their roots (tubers). They must be cooked, though, otherwise they are slightly venomous. The flowering stem and seeds are also edible when cooked.

 Rabbits seem to avoid eating them.

SPRING!

  Here you go. Spring starts today. We've been seeing many flowers and blossoming life already, but today it's official! This is, in my opinion, the best time to visit Gerês. The lizards are crawling out of their hidings, their small hatchlings doing so for the first times in their lives. The Amphibians are now very aroused, being on their reproductive season, since its warm but there's still a lot of water for them.