CH. V] WARM TEMPERATE MOIST WINTER DISTRICTS 519 



appear arbitrary. The olive-tree (Olea europaea, Linn., Fig. 268), however, 

 will always be mentioned. Here and there in the maquis of the Levant and 

 of the Mediterranean islands it still grows as a wild shrub, while as a culti- 

 vated tree it dominates all the cultivated land of the district. It is a typical 

 representative of the sclerophyllous type, with its massive trunk, which 

 ramifies near the ground, its gnarled branches, its deeply-fissured thick 

 bark, but especially its small, narrow, stiff leaves, dull green, and provided 

 with a scanty coating of hairs on their upper faces, but silvery below 

 owing to their scaly hairs. 



Ouercus Ilex, Linn. (Figs. 

 281, 282), resembles the olive 

 closely in habit. In the Medi- 

 terranean countries, this species 

 with some others, such as O. 

 coccifera (Fig. 288) and Q. 

 Suber, represents the sclero- 

 phyllous type of the genus 

 Ouercus, whilst other common 

 species of the district, such as 

 O. lusitanica, remain green in 

 summer. The sclerophyllous 

 oaks have small stiff leaves, 

 which in O. Ilex are usually 

 entire, but in other species are 

 sharply toothed. 



Some shrubs and small trees 

 from Mediterranean coun- 

 tries, which have been intro- 

 duced to general cultivation 

 in Europe, exhibit no less 

 markedly the sclerophyllous 

 stamp. Two of the best known of these, the oleander and the bay- 

 tree, can scarcely be considered as typical representatives of the maquis. 

 Nerium Oleander grows on the banks and on little islets of the stony beds of 

 streams containing but little water ; and the bay-tree (Laurus nobilis), 

 whose area extends over Western France, is a rare feature in the maquis, 

 and, like the oleander, has larger leaves than the ordinary plants which 

 compose the vegetation of the maquis. Quite typical and common 

 shrubs of the maquis are the myrtle (Myrtus communis) with its small 

 stiff leaves, and aromatic Labiatae, such as the rosemary (Rosmarinus 

 officinalis), lavender (Lavandula latifolia), and thyme (Thymus vulgaris), 

 whereas the sage (Salvia officinalis), having broad, softer leaves, with felted 

 hairs, again deviates from the type. 



Fig. 2S4. Cupressussempervirens, the cypress. Above: 

 a branch of Olea europaea. Ravenna, Lake Como. From 

 a photograph by Fr. Sonnecken. 



