Cii.V] WARM TEMPERATE MOIST WINTER DISTRICTS 517 



holm oak (Ouercus Ilex, Linn., Figs. 281, 282) and the Aleppo pine (Pinus 

 halepensis, Mill.) predominated ; at present these trees are rarely found 

 grouped as low thin forest. Vegetation is more luxuriant on silicious soil ; 

 the shrubs then become more closely set and taller, and together form the 

 so-called 'Midguts' (Fig. 280), which attains a rich typical development, 

 especially in Corsica. The maquis may also frequently be considered as the 

 underwood forming the sole 

 remains of original forests, 

 in which all but a few trees 

 have been felled. On silicious 

 soil in the south of France 

 these trees are chiefly Pinus 

 maritima and Ouercus Suber, 

 whilst the holm oak and the 

 Aleppo pine are only subor- 

 dinate there. The stone-pine 

 (Pinus Pinea, Fig. 283), which 

 appears in most landscapes 

 of Mediterranean countries, 

 forms thin woods here and 

 there on sandy soil, without 

 however being an essential 

 and general constituent of 

 the vegetation, like the 

 other above-mentioned pines, 

 which are less beautifully 

 shaped. The well-known 

 cypress (Fig. 284) is still less 

 frequent in natural woods. 



The maquis frequently pos- 

 sesses a very uniform compo- 

 sition over large areas ; thus 

 in Spain, for miles it is 

 formed chiefly of species of Cistus (Fig. 285) ; in the Levant, not infre- 

 quently mainly of Pistacia Lentiscus (Fig. 286). But even in these cases 

 the prevailing types are mingled with others, and a varied mixture of 

 forms usually results. 



The systematic composition of sclerophyllous woodland exhibits many 

 distinctions according to the locality, the altitude above sea-level, the 

 physical and chemical nature of the soil ; but its oecological character is 

 everywhere preserved. Low and thin in the garigues, taller and more 

 interlaced in the maquis, the shrubs and trees always exhibit vertical, rio-id 

 dull green leaves. One might imagine them all to be members of one 



Fig. 2S2. Sclerophyllous flora of the Mediterranean. 

 Quercus Ilex. Two-thirds natural size. 



