Rock Iphigenia

The grim beauty of stone Iphigenia is softened by the colouring of the animate nature. "Twice a year, flowers bloom on the desert rock of Iphigenia..." - one poet keenly noticed. It is no mere chance that representatives of the heat-loving Mediterranian flora are so numerous in this sultry corner: right on the bald rock, near the top age-old trees of broad-leaved pistachio were preserved. This tree has also other names - wild pictachio-tree, keva tree (resin keva is got of it for the preparation of gutta-percha), turpentine tree. In Crimea 1000-year old species are known. The growth of aboriginal evergreen relic shrubs, such as Crimean rock rose with silvery-green, as if faded under the bright Crimean sun, shrivelled leaves, and box-like fruits, appearing to the end of the summer, Pontian butcher's boom with red fruits, jasmine, are of great interest. The mountainsides of Iphigenia are transformed in May - June, when many of more than 40 species of plants, growing here, are blooming. On a sultry day, far above the grey-green top of the rock, an uninterrupted and monotonous "concert" of singing cicadas is resounded.