I love Cyprus in the spring with its infinite variety of green. However, I think I am beginning to pine a bit for the golden-brown prairie look that we will see in the coming months.

Vretsia Tavern has always puzzled me. I first drove past it when I was on the way to a nature viewing platform which is just down the hill. At the time, I remember seeing lots of empties piled up outside it, though it was obviously closed. I was told that it opened periodically, when the hunting season was in full swing.

Anyway, a few years later there was a fire, and it was burnt out. I wrote a blog about it at the time. Then, somebody cleared it all up, and I wondered whether it was going to re-open again.

However, since then, nothing has happened. The tavern is still just a burnt-out shell, just a lot cleaner.

The flowers of Vretsia are just as interesting as the ruins, and a lot more cheerful. This one is called Wild Mallow. It is also known as cheeseweed, as its fruiting head resembles a miniature wheel of cheese with wedge-shaped sections. It has an interesting background...

Mallow has a long history in holistic medicine, owing to the fact that the plant — in particular, its roots — has a substantial amount of mucilage (a sticky, jelly-like substance rich in protein and carbohydrates).

Mucilage is what gives mallow its anti-inflammatory properties. Historically, the herb has been used to heal digestive and urinary tract irritations, and even control coughs caused by inflammation.

It’s used in South African medicine as a topical poultice and infusion to heal wounds, and noted as a Native American folk remedy to treat swellings and sores. Modern herbal medicine commonly prescribes mallow as a healing agent for insect bites and swollen muscles.

But my favorite piece of mallow folklore? Its purported magical sexual powers.

In his book Natural History, Pliny the Elder asserted that mallow was an aphrodisiac, and when the seeds were sprinkled “for the treatment of women,” they stimulated sexual desire to “an infinite degree.” (Apparently, placing just three roots near the genitalia produced a similar effect as well.)

Back to the drone now, and we are looking across Vretsia towards the valley again. The mosque is just to the left of this shot, and the tavern is in the centre. There are cultivated fields in shot too. Let's take a closer look.

They look like olive trees. They have been recently planted, in the last couple of years.