54 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOCJKAPHY 



a commercial basis is B very important industry. Immense quan- 

 tities of cut flowers are shipped from the Riviera to Paris and 

 London, and certain fragrant flowers like violets, lavender, jas- 

 mine, etc., are grown in great numbers for the manufacture of 

 perfume. 



The Iberian Peninsula j 



The Iberian Peninsula, Spain and Portugal, forms a very dis- 

 tinct botanical province in which the Mediterranean flora is pre- 

 dominant over much of the area, but which has also a strong 

 element related to western and central Europe. Owing to its 

 isolation it has an unusually high percentage of endemic species. 



Except for the lofty Pyrenees separating it from France, the 

 whole of the peninsula is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the 

 Mediterranean, which exercise a great influence on the climate 

 of the coastal region-. 



The greater part of the peninsula is occupied by a plateau, 

 between 2,000 and 3,000 feet elevation. This plateau, being largely 

 cut off from the coast by mountains, has a very different climate. 

 It is divided into a northern and southern portion, which differ 

 considerably in their climate and flora. 



The plateau is highest on its eastern side sloping somewhat 

 gradually to the west, before descending to the lowlands of Portu- 

 gal, which are drained by the Douro and Tagus, flowing between 

 ranges of considerable elevation. 



The southern edge of the plateau is bounded by the Sierra 

 Morena, between which and the lofty coastal Sierra Nevada, is 

 the broad Andalusian plain, watered by the Guadalquivir, a region 

 of great fertility. 



The northern and northwestern coasts are extremely rugged, 

 the mountains often coming down to the sea, and tins region, 

 together with the Pyrenees, is the rainiest part of the peninsula. 



Contrasted with this is the eastern or Mediterranean coast, 

 which has for the most part a scanty rainfall, and in places is so 

 arid as to warrant the appellation of steppes, which is also true 

 of much of the eastern plateau. Arid conditions prevail over much 



1 For a detailed account of the flora of Spain and Portugal, see Willkomm, 

 M., Pflanzenvcrbreitung auf dir iberischen Halbinsil. Die Vegetation der Erde, 

 Vol. I. 1S96. 



