MEDITERRANEAN SCRUB

Mediterranean scrub Two principal varieties are recognized on the basis of the stature of the constituent shrubs. The tall variety is called maquis, the short variety garrigue; but the distinction is somewhat arbitrary and there are many intergrade types. Both occupy vast areas and were derived by burning and grazing from an earlier forest cover. Indeed, constant use of fire has created distinctive plant associations within the scrub, such as the giane (rosemary and Genista species) and ericeto (tree heath) in southern Italy. In Iberia such associations are even more extensive and include the brezales (heathers), jorales (Cistus species), goscojales (Quercus coccifera, kermes oak) and bujedales (Buxus sempervirens, box).

Maquis (French) or macchia (Italian; plural macchie) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs such as sage, juniper and myrtle. It is most often associated with Corsica but is widely found on the mainland as well.
It is similar to the English heath in many aspects, but with taller shrubs, typically 2-4 m high as opposed to 0.2-1 m for heath. A similar habitat type in North America is known as chaparral, though the kinds of shrubs involved are different.

Although maquis is by definition natural, its appearance in many places is due to destruction of forest cover, mainly by frequent burning that prevents young trees from maturing. It tends otherwise to grow in arid, rocky areas where only drought-resistant plants are likely to prosper.
The word comes from the plural of Italian macchia (English thicket). The extremely dense nature of maquis made it ideal cover for bandits and guerrillas, who used it to shelter from the authorities. It is from this meaning that the Second World War French resistance movement, the Maquis, derived its name. In Italian darsi alla macchia means becoming a fugitive.

Garrigue is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is ameliorated, but where annual summer drought conditions obtain. The term has also found its way into haute cuisine, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigue shrubland. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre described garrigue as "discontinuous bushy associations of the Mediterranean calcareous plateaus, often composed of kermes oak, lavender, thyme, and white cistus. There may be a few isolated trees."

Aside from dense thickets of kermes oak that punctuate the garrigue landscape, juniper and stunted holm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such as lavender, sage, rosemary, wild thyme and Artemisia are common garrigue plants.
The aromatic oils and soluble monoterpenes of such herbs leached into garrigue soils from leaf litter have been connected with plant allelopathy, which asserts the dominance of a plant over its neighbors, especially annuals, and contributes to the characteristic open spacing and restricted flora in a garrigue. The fines (charred wood and smoke residues, or charcoal dust) of periodic brush fires also have had an effect on the patterning and composition of the garrigues. Clear summer skies and intense solar radiation have induced the evolution of protective physiologies: the familiar glaucous, grayish-green of garrigue landscapes is produced by the protective white hairs and light-diffusing, pebbled surfaces of many leaves typical of garrigue plants.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).