Garigue and its flora

Abstract

Garigue is a generic term to describe a typical Mediterranean habitat characterised by dwarf, hemispherical shrubs less than half a metre high. The word garigue originated in Corsica. This habitat is branded phrygana in Greece and there are many other local names coined in different parts of the Mediterranean region to refer to garigue. Such local names may overlap in their meaning or may embrace more than one type of community. The Spanish mattoral, for example, spans from high mattoral (maquis) to medium mattoral mid-maquis) and low mattoral (garigue), which is also known as tornillares in Spain. Garigue forms an intrinsic part of the sclerophyll series which is such a hallmark of the Mediterranean region and whose climax is the woodland, followed by maquis and its lowest expression is the steppe (the most degraded habitat of the series) which is preceded by garigue.