Maltese Habitats
Disturbed Ground
Due to the high degree of human impact, this habitat has become the most widespread over the islands and the most familiar wild plants are those encountered on disturbed ground. Many of these species are aliens or adventives which have become naturalised over the years. Thus the most common of Maltese wild plants, the Cape Sorrel (Oxalis pes-caprae) is actually a native of South Africa and was only introduced into Malta at the beginning of the nineteenth century to be cultivated at the botanical garden. From Malta it has spread all over the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast of Europe and can now be found also in the south of England.
The Crown Daisy (Chrysanthemum coronarium) is possibly native to the Orient and was probably introduced several hundreds of years ago. The Narrow-leaved Aster (Aster squamatus), which has now overrun the country was only introduced in the 1930s.
