European elder

This small native tree creates quite a show in Spring with flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers against a dense background of bright green leaves. The flowers are still occasionally used in simple rustic fritter and bread recipes. When fully ripe, the small, juicy, purple-black berries are made into jam and in times past they were considered effective prepared as a tradional medicine.

Scientific name: Sambucus nigra

Italian common name: Sambuco comune

English common name: European elder

Poppy

In spring the solitary orange-red flowers of Flanders Field poppies open on erect stems 8 to 24 in.(20 to 60 cm) tall. Some flowers of this species show a conspicuous black spot at the base of each of the four petals. The fiery splendor of great drifts of poppies in bloom is a favorite subject of landscape painters and photographers. They grow in sunny cultivated and uncultivated fields, pastures, stony slopes, roadsides and embankments.

Scientific name: Papaver rhoeas

Italian common name: Papavero comune

English common name: Flanders Field poppy

Giant fennel

If we were to select a single native plant as a symbol of Sicily's spectacular spring flora it would surely be Giant fennel or Ferla. From a rosette of dark green, finely divided foliage Giant fennel sends up a thick, succulent bloom stalk to 6 ft. (2 m) tall in mid-spring. The rounded 3 in. (7.5 cm) clusters of bright yellow flowers that develop along the upper of this stem make a striking display of color and texture. Despite its similar appearance and common name, Giant fennel is not the true fennel of culinary fame. A simple identity test is to crush a small sample of the foliage. Giant fennel lacks the unmistakable sweet aromatic fragrance of edible fennel.

Scientific name: Ferula communis

Italian common name: Ferla, Ferula

English common name: Giant fennel

Sulla

Few plants of the Sicilian countryside match the colorful display of bright red flowers that clothe this low spreading herb in spring. Whether you see it as a roadside volunteer or cultivated in a pure stand covering scores of hectares the glowing crimson color of its blooms is an unforgettable sight. Since they offer a rich source of nectar the flower clusters are attractive to bees. In Sicily Sulla is cultivated as forage, silage or a hay crop for feeding sheep and cattle.

Scientific name: Hedysarum coronarium

Italian common name: Sulla

English common name: Italian sainfoin, French honeysuckle