Читать книгу Walking in Sicily онлайн

38 страница из 69

Many of the species referred to above can be grouped under the vast class of Mediterranean maquis, which still accounts for a considerable range of altitudes on Sicily. Hardy, low, evergreen tree and impenetrable shrub cover combined with aromatic plants are apparently resistant to the scorching near-drought conditions of a typical Sicilian summer. However they succumb to fire, as oily substances ignite in a flash, but growth can be restored in a matter of months.

Seashore walks are always rich in plant life, with interesting examples such as the stunning yellow horned poppy, lilac sea rocket, purple-tinged sea holly and pungent artemisia. The rather nondescript glasswort, or Salicornia, found on salt-ridden marshes and dunes, has jointed, bright green fleshy stalks which supply potash-rich ashes, long used in glass-making throughout the Mediterranean. Underwater plants include an unusual flowering seaweed which forms meadows and comes under the evocative appellation Posidonia oceanica (‘king of the sea’). Its fronds form floating cushions, though is more commonly seen in dried form, as the old leaves are pulverised then rolled into curious pebble-shaped balls by wave action, to be washed up on the beaches especially along the southern coast. Vast banks of seaweed strands deposited on the sand can even provide a habitat suitable for the endemic marigold.