''Sideritis syriaca'', commonly known as ironwort, is a species of

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

native to

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in the eastern Mediterranean. It grows at high elevations in the mountains. It is commonly found on wet grounds, on the high pastures, above . It is similar to

chamomile Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, '' Matricaria chamomilla'' and '' Chamaemelum nobile'', are commo ...

and used in the Balkans (where it is known as "mountain tea") to make a

tisane Herbal teas, technically known as herbal infusions, and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Often herb tea, or the plain ...

. In Bulgaria, ''Sideritis syriaca'' is a critically endangered species inscribed in the '' Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria''. It's only found in the wild in the

Malko Tarnovo Malko Tarnovo ( , "Little Tarnovo"; as opposed to Veliko Tarnovo) is a town in Burgas Province, southeastern Bulgaria, 5 km from the Turkish border. It is the only town in the interior of the Bulgarian Strandzha Mountains and lies in Stra ...

area of Strandzha Nature Park, but it's also cultivated locally elsewhere in Strandzha. The Bulgarian Strandzha herbal tea (Странджански билков чай, ''Strandzhanski bilkov chay'') made of dried ''Sideritis'' has

protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designat ...

status in the EU.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are accepted. *''Sideritis syriaca'' subsp. ''nusairiensis'' – southern Turkey and western Syria *''Sideritis syriaca'' subsp. ''syriaca'' – Crete

References

* syriaca Flora of Bulgaria Flora of Crete Flora of Lebanon and Syria Flora of Turkey Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Strandzha {{Lamiaceae-stub