Читать книгу The High Mountains of Crete. The White Mountains, Psiloritis and Lassithi Mountains онлайн

15 страница из 113

The limit of the treeline varies: northern slopes about 1450m (4760ft), and southern slopes about 1600m (5250ft). Common mountain trees are Cretan cypress, often contorted by winter winds, but living to a very great age, juniper, evergreen maple, prickly oak and Holm oak, and Cretan pine (similar to Calabrian pine). Mid-level trees include (apart from olive trees) carob, with its big black pods, wild pear, deciduous oaks, oriental plane (watercourses, village squares), walnut and the fast-growing pollarded mulberry. At the seashore, juniper and tamarisk are common. Tamarisk is usefully fast-growing but despised for the windblown dust (that can land on the dinner table) retained in its foliage. Chestnut groves flourish in places where the type of rock allows a constant water supply.

On the hillsides there are three main types of vegetation. In the mountain ranges they grow side-by-side, depending on water supply, orientation and altitude.

Maquis

Tall, long-lived, woody shrubs classed as trees. This includes prickly oak when it is chronically stunted by browsing goats. Maquis is kept down where mature trees monopolise the available water supply.