

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 47 



district in question almost as soon as it appears. The temper- 

 ature indeed keeps above 69° E. during the greater part of the 

 year, in the winter months (November, December, and January) 

 rarely falling below 59° or 60°, and only on the coldest days 

 reaching 49°. The common laurel and the beech are frequently 

 found associated in the Tuscan tufas, showing that they formerly 

 grew side by side in that region. This, however, is no longer 

 the case; the laurel requires more shade than it could find 

 under present conditions, while the beech has retired to the 

 northern flanks of the Apennines to obtain the fresh cool climate 

 which is now denied to it in the low grounds of Tuscany. 

 In the same deposits occur also the elm, the white -beam 

 (Pyrus aria), the gray willow (Salix cinerea), the ivy, etc. Other 

 species are evergreen oak (Quercus ilex), pubescent oak (Q. 

 joubescens, Wild.), Greek periploca (Periploca grceca), laurustinus 

 (Viburnum tinus), European nettle-tree (Celtis australis), fig- 

 tree (Ficus carica), vine (Vitis vinifera), judas-tree (Cereis sili- 

 quastrum), manna-ash (Fraxinus ornus), sarsaparilla (Smilax 

 aspera), and various maples which still characterise the flora 

 of the Mediterranean region. The tufas of Lipari are marked 

 by a similar assemblage of species, amongst which the common 

 laurel and its variety (Laurus canariensis) are conspicuous ; but 

 the Tertiary and extinct forms mentioned above are wanting. 



According to Saporta they are absent also from the tufas of 

 Provence — the flora of which corresponds in all other respects 

 with that of the Italian deposits. Among the species enumer- 

 ated by him are the Canary laurel, which is associated, as in 

 the Italian tufas, with the common laurel, European nettle-tree, 

 fig-tree, vine, laurustinus, judas-tree, oak, hazel, white poplar, 

 various willows and elms, Montpellier maple, common maple 

 (Acer camjoestre), clematis, ivy, dogwood, spindle-tree, and fustic, 

 a group very nearly the same as that which flourishes at 

 present within the same limits. But commingled with these 

 species are others no longer natives of Provence, such as Salz- 

 mann's pine (Pinus Sahmanni, Dun.), the Pyrenean pine (Pinus 

 pyrenaica, Lap.), and the dwarf or mountain-pine (Pinus jpumilio), 



