ASIA MINOR 55 



such an extent that the cultivation of wheat is rendered 

 possible in the valleys. 



The southern margin of Anatolia displays the same 

 mediterranean character. Along the Taurus, evergreen 

 woodlands, often reduced to the condition of maquis and 

 garigues, are the dominant feature : but cypress, cedar, 

 and black pine, together with the Cilician fir and 

 junipers, the remains of a once more luxuriant forest, are 

 abundantly intermixed in the broad and hard-leaved 

 woods ; they even constitute independent patches in the 

 fastnesses of the mountains. The upper slopes with their 

 alpine herbage afford summer pastures for cattle. 



The aspect of the northern slopes, facing the Black 

 Sea, which may be called Pontus or Pontis, is different. 

 In every respect the climate and the vegetation of these 

 slopes are identical with those of the South- Caspian 

 barrier of Persia. Sufficiently watered, yet experiencing 

 distinctly the rhythm of hot and cold seasons, the forests 

 are bare in winter, and their appearance and composition 

 is similar to the central European woodlands. How- 

 ever, the plane-tree, the horse-chestnut, pterocarya, wild 

 walnu., and many others, exemplify the much greater 

 variety of the trees, and the conditions, milder than in 

 Europe, which prevail there. To find a vegetation exactly 

 equivalent to that of western Europe, one has to climb 

 up to a middle zone characterized by the oak. Further 

 up again, a subalpine shrub belt is formed by rhodo- 

 dendrons and bilberries, and leads to alpine pastures. 



The highlands which rise to the east of Anatolia, and 

 penetrate far into Persia under the name of Armenia, 

 are not so well provided with water as the Pontic slopes. 

 Their vegetation presents a transition stage between the 

 mediterranean and the northern types. Originally well- 

 wooded, but formed often of limestone, they have been 



