The Titarisios ( el, Τιταρήσιος, formerly Ξεριάς - ''Xerias'') is a river in

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is a major tributary of the Pineios. The river begins at the western slopes of

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

and flows southwest, then south. It leaves the mountains near the village Sykia, and turns east near the village

Vlachogianni Vlachogianni ( el, Βλαχογιάννι, ) is a village and a community of the Elassona municipality, in Greece. Before the 2011 local government reform it was a part of the municipality of Potamia, of which it was a municipal district and the ...

. It passes along the town

Tyrnavos Tyrnavos ( el, Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain. ...

and flows into the Pineios near the village Rodia. The confluence is at 65 m above sea level. Its total length is 70 km, and for most of its length it contains water throughout the year. The vegetation along the river is characterised by reeds, mainly the ''

Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

'', and by wetland forest with trees like

plane trees ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

s and poplars. According to the classification system of wetland types of the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

adopted in 1999, the Titarisios river falls into the category of inland wetlands. The river is currently primarily used for irrigation, although this has been declining recently. Major construction projects have caused drastic changes to the wetlands. The wetlands of the Titarisios are threatened by uncontrolled waste disposal, for instance near the villages Rodia, Vryotopos and Deleria. Around 3 km from Argyroupoli is Lake Mati Tyrnavou. Mati is today the only natural lake in Thessaly and although it has only a small area (25 ha) it is the core of an ecosystem with rich flora and fauna.

Flora

Several types of vegetation are found along the river Titarisios: *reed vegetation, e.g. ''

Arundo donax ''Arundo donax'' is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed. ''Arundo'' an ...

'' (giant cane) and ''

'' (common reed) *

halophytic A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. T ...

and hemihalophytic vegetation, e.g. ''

Juncus maritimus ''Juncus maritimus'', known as the sea rush, is a species of rush that grows on coastlines. It is sometimes considered conspecific with '' Juncus kraussii''. It has a wide distribution across the western Palearctic realm (all of Europe, western ...

'' (sea rush), ''

Salicornia ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. ''Salicornia'' species are native to North America, Europe, Central Asia, ...

herbacea'' (glasswort) and ''

Chenopodium bonus-henricus ''Blitum bonus-henricus'' ( syn. ''Chenopodium bonus-henricus''), also called Good-King-Henry, poor-man's asparagus, perennial goosefoot, Lincolnshire spinach, Markery, English mercury, or mercury goosefoot, is a species of goosefoot which is na ...

'' (Good King Henry) *dune vegetation, e.g. '' Salsola kali'' (prickly saltwort), ''

Amaranthus retroflexus ''Amaranthus retroflexus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae with several common names, including red-root amaranth, redroot pigweed, red-rooted pigweed, common amaranth, pigweed amaranth, and common tumbleweed. page 47 ...

'' (redroot pigweed) and ''

Portulaca oleracea ''Portulaca oleracea'' (common purslane, also known as little hogweed, or pursley) is an annual (actually tropical perennial in USDA growing zones 10–11) succulent in the family Portulacaceae. Description The plant may reach in height. It ...

'' (purslane) *wetland forest vegetation, e.g. ''

Populus nigra ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

'' (black poplar), ''

Platanus orientalis ''Platanus orientalis'', the Old World sycamore or Oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, growing to or more, and known for its longevity and spreading crown. In autumn its deep green leaves may change to blood red ...

'' (oriental plane), ''

Populus alba ''Populus alba'', commonly called silver poplar,Webb, C. J.; Sykes, W. R.; Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. 4. Christchurch, New Zealand, Botany Division, D.S.I.R. si ...

'' (silver poplar), ''

Ulmus minor ''Ulmus minor'' Mill., the field elm, is by far the most polymorphic of the European species, although its taxonomy remains a matter of contention. Its natural range is predominantly south European, extending to Asia Minor and Iran; its northern ...

'' (elm) and ''

Salix alba ''Salix alba'', the white willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain an ...

'' (white willow) *wet meadow vegetation, e.g. ''

Mentha longifolia ''Mentha longifolia'' (also known as horse mint, fillymint or St. John's horsemint; syn. ''M. spicata'' var. ''longifolia'' L., ''M. sylvestris'' L., ''M. tomentosa'' D'Urv, ''M. incana'' Willd.) is a species in the genus ''Mentha'' (mint) nati ...

'' (horse mint) and various species of ''

Trifolium Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus h ...

'' (clover) *

garrigue Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( el, φρύγανα , n. pl.), is a type of low scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. It is found on limestone soils in southern Fra ...

vegetation, represented by various species of ''

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

'' (spurge)

Fauna

Specific studies of the fish in the Titarisios river have not been done, but 37 species of fish have been reported, and another 11 species are presumed present. Due to its connection to sea via the Pineios, the Titarisios also contains migratory fish like the ''

Acipenser sturio The European sea sturgeon (''Acipenser sturio''), also known as the Atlantic sturgeon or common sturgeon, is a species of sturgeon native to Europe. It was formerly abundant, being found in coastal habitats all over Europe. It is anadromous and b ...

'' (European sea sturgeon) and ''

Alosa fallax The twait shad or twaite shad (''Alosa fallax'') is a species of fish in the family Clupeidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and is an anadromous fish which lives in the sea but migrates into fresh water to s ...

'' (twait shad). Also the '' Nemacheilus barbatulus'' (stone loach) and the ''

Sabanejewia aurata ''Sabanejewia aurata'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cobitidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekist ...

balcanica'' (golden loach) have been found.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Greece Rivers of Thessaly Landforms of Larissa (regional unit)