Читать книгу The Islands of Croatia. 30 walks on 14 Adriatic islands онлайн

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Wild sage on the trail to Kom, with Lastovo in the distance, Korčula (Walk 27)

Much of the vegetation on the islands consists of maquis – dense hardy shrubs and bushes, including the Strawberry tree (easily recognisable by its distinctive red, strawberry-like berries), Myrtle, and Prickly and Phoenecian juniper – and low evergreen trees, most characteristically Holm oak (also known as Holly oak) and Downy oak, interspersed with Oriental hornbeam, Manna ash and stands of Aleppo pine. Wild herbs such as rosemary, lavender, bay, sage and thyme grow in profusion, along with fennel and wild asparagus, augmented by olive trees (there are several different varieties), carob and fig.

Some of the islands have more extensive areas of forest – the most heavily forested islands on the Croatian Adriatic are Mljet, the western half of Rab, and Korčula. At the opposite extreme are islands such as the appropriately named Goli otok (meaning ‘naked island’) and Pag, where vegetation is extremely sparse. Rab is a good illustration of these extreme contrasts – the lower western half of the island, and in particular the Kalifron peninsula, is incredibly lush and green, while the higher eastern side of the island, and in particular the steep slopes above the east coast, is rocky and largely bare. The little that does grow there is bent double by the harsh northeast wind, the bura.