NATURE OF COUNTRY 39 



of this region comprises North Africa about 20° N. latitude, the Iberian Peninsula, 

 the south of France, including the greater part of the Rhone valley, the Apennine 

 Peninsula, the Balkan Peninsula (except its northern districts, which belong to the 

 valley of the Danube), and the islands of the Mediterranean. 



Generally speaking, the climate is characterised by its wet winters, the rains 

 occurring in the cold season, and the summer in many parts of this tract being 

 almost or completely rainless. These countries, with their winter rains and long 

 summer droughts, are the home of evergreen trees and shrubs which with their hard, 

 thick, leathery leaves give the Mediterranean landscape its principal character. 

 The trees are mostly low, with the stems gnarled, the branches dense, and the leaves 

 of the general character of those of the laurel or oleander, but usually smaller, 

 and in most cases indeed very small. Both sides of such leaves are frequently 

 provided with gland-hairs, which secrete fluids, while air-conducting hairs are absent, 

 or confined to the under side. Notwithstanding, the leaves are seldom bright in 

 colour and are often overspread by a bluish film, probably in consequence of a 

 resinous secretion, their hard leathery condition being owing to the compact 

 arrangement of their cells. Compared with other plants of dry climates, these trees 

 are remarkable not only for their evergreen leaves but also for their absence of 

 thorns and of protecting covers to the buds. 



At a distance large stretches of country appear almost devoid of vegetation, 

 owing to the colouring of the dusty and sparse bushes being so similar to that of 

 the ground. Such apparently barren spots occur, however, only on limestone soil, 

 and indicate the remnants of former forests in which the ilex (Quercus ilex) and 

 the Aleppo pine (Pinus aleppensis) were predominant. The vegetation on 

 gravelly soil is much more abundant, the shrubs growing denser and higher, and 

 representing the brushwood of primeval forests, the trees of which have nearly all 

 disappeared. Here ilex and the Aleppo pine are scarce, being replaced by the 

 cork tree (Quercus suber) and the maritime pine (Pinus maritima). The stone- 

 pine (Pinus pinea), on the other hand, which occupies so important a place in 

 Mediterranean landscapes, grows on sandy soil, and seldom forms extensive woods. 



Many of the woodlands chiefly consist of monotonous groups of mastic trees 

 (Pistacia lentiscus), this monotony being, however, in some degree broken by the 

 intermixture of shrubs of other kinds. 



Among the hard-leaved types, the olive (Olea europea) occupies a conspicuous 

 position on account of its massive stem, branching at a small height, its gnarled 

 branches, its thick and deeply cleft bark, but more especially on account of its 

 small, narrow, hard leaves, covered on both sides with sparse scale-like hairs, 

 which give to the under surface a silvery tinge. As regards its leaves, the ilex is 

 not unlike the olive, the foliage of both being of the small and hard type. The 

 oleander (Nerium oleander), again, which grows on the banks and islands of rivers 

 with little water, like the bay (Laurus nobilis), can scarcely be regarded as a tree 

 of this tract; but the myrtle (Myrtus communis) with its stiff leaves, the 

 rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), the lavender (Lavandula latifolia), and thyme 

 (Thymus serpyllum), are common, as is also the sage (Salvia officinalis); the 

 last, with its wide, felt-like, soft-haired, leaves, differing greatly from the others. 

 The species of rock-rose (Cistus), with their large white or carmine-coloured 



