SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF VEGETATION OF THE TELL. 1/ 



doum bales were observed being vigorously driven marketward by their 

 small boumoused masters. On the sides of the gorge one sees species of 

 delicate ferns, bunch-grass in tumbling masses (very luxuriant where there 

 is moisture), chestnut, arbutus, and masses of evergreen ivy overhanging 

 the way in places. At one place, fairly high in the mountains, a colony of 

 native monkeys has found a safe retreat and may be frequently seen gam- 

 boling among the rocks and the shrubs near the stream. They were seen 

 and described by Tristram about 50 years ago, who states that they 

 "are of the same species as those of the rock of Gibraltar." Here are 

 a few oaks, myrtles, some "dherou" {Pisiacia sp.), and a few and scatter- 

 ing specimens of Pinus halepensis. The upper portion of the mountain, 

 at least of the part seen, is nearly treeless, and is under some cultivation. 

 After leaving the pass a drive of a few minutes brought us to the old 

 Roman town of Medea, which appears from the character of the vegeta- 

 tion, both native and introduced, to have a cooler as well as drier climate 

 than Algiers. Conspicuous among the ornamentals are the Judas tree and 

 the plane, both planted much about the town; among the fruits the apple 

 is cultivated extensively. 



From Medea to Ben-ouaghia the mountain range is broken up into large 

 rounded hills, in part cultivated, but almost wholly open, scantily covered 

 with shrubs or trees and mainly grazed over by large flocks of sheep and 

 goats. About midway between the two places we pass through an open 

 forest of oaks, from whose boles the bark has been removed. A chance 

 acquaintance told us that the cork was removed about once in four years, 

 but this is probably not the true cork oak (Quercus suher), which grows 

 under more moist conditions, as between Tunis and Constantine, or be- 

 tween the latter place and Algiers, along the littoral. The altitude of this 

 region is somewhat under 4,000 feet. 



From Berrouaghia to Boghari, which is on the northern edge of the High 

 Plateau, the route runs through an open grazing country, with scattering 

 oaks {Quercus bollota), juniper {Juniperus oxycedrus), and "dherou" {Pis- 

 iacia lentiscus), and, among other herbaceous plants, not a little bunch- 

 grass, whose species I did not learn. On the northern slopes of Mount 

 Gorno, 3,500 feet, is an open forest of oak of the species named, the forma- 

 tion recalling the chaparral of California. Upon reaching the crest of the 

 mountain one is suddenly brought to a forest of pine {Pinus halepensis) 

 which covers the entire southern slope to the exclusion of other species of 

 trees. Spreading over the slope on the upper levels, it avoids the gulches 

 near the base and reaches out on the crests of the ridges for a considerable 

 distance. The width of forest where crossed is about 50 kilometers. In 

 its habitat, which comprises the lower Atlas Mountains, Pinus halepensis 

 forms a rather small tree, shapely, with rounded summit. When growing 

 somewhat apart from its fellows it is of a more squat appearance than when 

 in the forest, although the forest of the species is by no means a dense one. 



