User:FloraofAlbania/sandbox



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Flora and Vegetation of Morocco
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Flora
The flora of Morocco consists of approximately 3942 species (4460 taxa including subspecies) of native or permanently naturalized vascular plants. This is less than the botanical hotspots in Europe (Greece, Spain), but clearly more than in all other North African countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The two reasons for this relative richness in species are Morocco's privileged location on the comparatively humid NW edge of Africa and its high mountains. The affinity to the flora of SW Europe is much higher than that of the East Mediterranean or Iranian-Turanian flora. The most species-rich genera are Ononis (common hay) and Silene (catchfly), each with around 80 species and subspecies. The genera Teucrium (Germander), Linaria (toadflax), Fumaria (fumitory), Limonium (sea lavender) and Sideritis ( limb weed). Onion plants of the genera Fritillaria, Crocus, Colchicum or Scilla, which are so diverse in the eastern Mediterranean region, only reach Morocco with isolated outposts. Their position in Morocco is occupied in a very reduced way by species of the genera Narcissus, Romulea or Drimia.

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Vegetation
''' Climatically, Morocco is divided into 2 different regions by the Atlas Mountains. In the dry east and south, desert-like conditions prevail. Tree vegetation here is essentially bound to areas close to the groundwater. Acacia tortilis copes best with the drought, which occurs locally in the form of isolated individual trees. The most important tree of the western Atlas slopes is the holm oak (Quercus ilex ssp rotundifolia), which often forms pure stands in the drier middle and southern sections of the High Atlas. In the wetter north, starting in the Jbel Ayachi S chain from Midelt to the Middle Atlas and up to the Rif, Cedrus atlantica (cedar) mixes in at higher altitudes. There are extensive cedar forests in particular in the Middle Atlas and in the central Rif. In the particularly humid mountains of the western Rif (coinciding essentially with the Thalassemtane National Park near Chefchouen) a local variant of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) dominates. Quercus suber (cork oak) often forms large stands over lime-free substrates. The best known is the Foret de la Marmora near Rabat. Tetraclinis articulata (Sandarac, Barbary thuja, Cupressaceae) is more drought-resistant than the holm oak. It often forms its own vegetation belt under the holm oak zone. The character tree of the south is Argania spinosa (Sapotaceae), whose range begins south of Essaouira and ends near Guelmim.

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