| The actions of man, who burned and destroyed the | | | | and graze- resistant and are generally |
| ancient forests that once fringed the Mediterranean | | | | summer-deciduous. Extensive open, sunny spaces, |
| basin, have irreparably damaged the natural | | | | with exposed rock, separate the shrubs, especially in |
| environment over the course of history. Deforestation, | | | | the extremely arid areas near the coast. During the |
| performed in order to create space for farms and | | | | summer, the most exposed vegetative parts of the |
| pastures, caused progressive desertification and | | | | plants that populate this habitat dry up, giving the |
| impoverishment of the soil, which, left exposed, also | | | | vegetation a characteristic "burned" look. This |
| suffered damage by erosion. In such conditions, | | | | landscape, typical of the countries that look out on the |
| development of arboreal species becomes | | | | sea, is a habitat of Community interest. The most |
| increasingly unlikely, while what does tend to become | | | | characteristic elements of its flora are Euphorbia |
| established are new forms of vegetation dominated | | | | acanthothamnos, Genista acanthoclada, Sarcopoterium |
| by low shrubs and sub-shrubs that replace the trees. | | | | spinosum, Pistacia lentiscus, various species of sages |
| The degradation of the Mediterranean maquis gives | | | | and rockroses, herbaceous plants also found in the |
| rise to a type of vegetation formation called garrigue | | | | garrigues, and many species of orchids. The spaces |
| (from the Provencal garigue), dominated by shrubs, | | | | left free by the shrubs are often populated by bulbous |
| which is discontinuous and with extensive open spaces | | | | plants such as Gynandriris sisyrinchium, and by other |
| with outcropping rock, and to the phrygana, typical of | | | | herbaceous species with beautiful flowers, like |
| the most arid stations. | | | | Ranunculus asiaticus. |
| Phrygana and garrigue meet near the sea and in the | | | | The garrigue is a discontinuous vegetation formation |
| interior, and the plants that make up each formation | | | | with extensive open spaces between plants; it is |
| vary according to the substrate, the altitude, and the | | | | characterized by evergreen shrubs and subshrubs that |
| phytogeographical area. It is not always easy to | | | | grow to a maximum of 1m and are frequently spiny |
| distinguish between the two types of vegetation, which | | | | and graze resistant. In the coastal garrigues, which are |
| often blend gradually the one into the other, creating | | | | found at the borderline between the coastal vegetation |
| intermediate formations often made up of species | | | | formations and the habitats more protected from the |
| common to both habitats. | | | | action of the sea, we find many species of the genus |
| The plants that make up these phytocenoses show | | | | Helichrysum, the most common of which is H. italicum. It |
| the most common adaptations to situations of aridity, | | | | is often accompanied by Anthyllis hermanniae and by |
| like sclerophylly, which permits limiting water loss by | | | | many different rockroses, like Cistus monspeliensis, C. |
| evaporation and transpiration, and microphylly, which is | | | | salviifohus, and C. incanus subsp. creticus, which color |
| often accompanied by spines and aromatic | | | | the land with their flowers ranging in color from white |
| substances that discourage herbivores. Despite the | | | | to pink and to yellow. |
| difficult living conditions, these environments boast | | | | Different garrigue formations are dominated by |
| many species are rich in plant life, mainly annual herbs | | | | different plants, for example Euphorbia acanthoclada, |
| that flower in spring and die in summer, or bulbous | | | | Phlomis fruticosa, or Salvia triloba. Together with the |
| plants that succeed in flowering and surviving thanks to | | | | stands of Daphne sericea and Lavandula stoechas, |
| their subterranean reserve organs. Among the families | | | | these are habitats of Community interest and |
| of plants most typical of the garrigues and the | | | | therefore subject to special conservation measures, |
| phrygana are the Leguminosae, Euphorbiaceae, | | | | as in fact are all the coastal vegetation formations |
| Labiatae, Compositae, Liliaceae, and Orchidaceae. | | | | containing associations of the plants mentioned above. |
| Although the majority of the shrubby and suffruticose | | | | Annuals and bulbous plants inhabit the open spaces of |
| vegetation of the Mediterranean regions is of | | | | the garrigue. All these plants flower early, generally at |
| secondary origin (that is, the result of anthropic action | | | | the time of the spring rains, when the temperature |
| on the original forests), there also exist particular | | | | begins to rise above the winter average. These |
| situations in which these formations represent the | | | | meadows are home to many short-lived species that |
| highest stage of evolution of local vegetation. Their | | | | nevertheless offer their colorful contribution to |
| destruction leads to the formation of dry grasslands | | | | celebrating spring: among these are the highly fragrant |
| dominated by Graminaceae and maintained in this | | | | asphodels and many bulbous plants, like the showy |
| state by grazing. | | | | orchids of the genera Ophrys and Orchis. |
| The phrygana, or spiny garrigue, is a semi-natural | | | | Due to the particular morphology of the flowers of the |
| biocenosis; that is, a formation composed of | | | | orchids, we have preferred prefacing the descriptions |
| spontaneous species that develop thanks to grazing | | | | of the single species with brief introductions to the |
| and fires. It is formed of low, hemispherical, densely | | | | family and in particular to the genera Ophrys, Orchis, |
| and intricately branched shrubs that grow to a | | | | and Serapias. |
| maximum height of 50 cm. The leaves are drought- | | | | |