Close to Chersonissos village lies Koumarodasos forest. It is extended over an area of 3,000 acres. It is made of unique scenery in a woodland area on the periphery of the settlement and is characterized by its rocky outcrop.

A characteristic species that dominates this forest is the Strawberry tree, an evergreen shrub at around 2-3 meters high, or a small tree that grows on dry and rocky terrain. The beauty of Strawberry tree lies in the simultaneous multi-color of its fruit, as in the same plant there are colors as yellow, red and green. Its fruit is of course edible and it was known to the ancient Greeks.

In Koumarodasos forest, visitors can mainly find kermes oaks, evergreen oaks, Cretan maples, wild-olives, carob trees and oak trees. The bushy vegetation is also a feature of this forest while one can find gorses, furzes, sage bushes and of course many other plants such as cichorium. One more indigenous bush that grows in Koumarodasos is the Cretan Zelkova-properly in Crete “Abelitsia” or “Anegnoro”, with a height of 3-5 meters. It is a unique species of this kind of bushes and is characterized as a living fossil. “Anegnoro” (anegnoro means unknown) was named after its own discovery. When people discovered it, they did not know what kind of bush it was.

All these, in combination with the wild hares, make this area a wild but easily-accessible destination that will be admired by nature lovers.

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