THE NORTH TEMPERATE ZONE 57 



Travelling southward, one soon enters the great table land 

 which makes up the greater part of Spain. The northern part of 

 the plateau has sufficient rainfall for the growth of grain, especially 

 wheat and barley, and this is the great granary of Spain, reminding 

 one of the great wheat fields of Kansas or the Dakotas. Like our 

 prairie states, the plains are quite destitute of trees, and only in 

 the beds of streams, does one see elms, poplars, alders and willows. 



Madrid and Toledo lie in an arid region, which might be called 

 a desert. The barren often saline soil supports only the scantiest 

 vegetation, such as salt-bush (Atriplex and Salsola), species of 

 plantain, Gypsophila, Lepidium, Sonchus, Lavatera, and several 

 Leguminosae. The great stretches of gray barren plain are most 

 depressing, and the climate extremely trying. 



The southern plateau has a much better climate, and here for 

 the first time one meets the olive, growing in veritable forests, as 

 well as vines, figs, peaches, pomegranates and apricots, and in 

 specially sheltered regions, oranges. 



A feature of the landscape of the southern plateau is the exten- 

 sive woods of evergreen cork oak (Quercus suber) whose bark is 

 an important article of commerce. 



It is in the coastal regions, especially at the south that one finds 

 the most favorable condition for the growth of sub-tropical vegeta- 

 tion. About Seville or Gibraltar one sees the same ornamental 

 plants that one sees in Santa Barbara or San Diego; and as in 

 southern California, irrigation is necessary. 



Besides the usual products of the Mediterranean, rice and cotton 

 are also grown to some extent, and the date palm is more exten- 

 sively grown than anywhere else in Europe. 



Eucalyptus and pepper trees are common, and in Gibraltar one 

 is struck by a curious shade tree the "Bella Sombra," a native of 

 Argentina, closely related to the common " poke-weed ' : of the 

 eastern United States. 



Two conspicious American plants have escaped from cultiva- 

 tion and became thoroughly naturalized, the prickly-pear cactus, 

 and the century plant (Agave), both probably introduced from 

 Mexico. The prickly-pear is a serious pest in some places. 



The extreme south of Spain, as might be expected from its close 

 proximity to Morocco, has much in common with northern Africa, 

 both in its climate and vegetation, the floras of the two sides of 



