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