Mediterranean Plants

Cheri Melton's article on Mediterranean natives that have found homes in Arizona prompted me to see what I could find out about Mediterranean flora on the Internet. A search on the phrase "Mediterranean flora" yielded several interesting documents, many originated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). One of the most interesting of these documents was an FAO report on the East and South Mediterranean sub-region covering Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, and Turkey (http:web.icppr.fao.org/srm/srm-SYN/med/1.HTML).

According to the report, the wild ancestors of many of our favorite and most useful domesticated plants originated in this area, including cereals such as wheat, barley and rye; legumes such as chickpea, pea, and lentils; and vegetables such as beets, artichokes, carrots, rockets, lettuce. Many of our favorite fruit and nut trees also have wild ancestors from this region, including chestnuts, walnuts, apples, pears, plums, pistachios, hazel nuts, almonds, and olives.

The region is also the ancestral homeland of many flowers and ornamental plants such as Allium, Anemone, Arum, Centaurea, Chonodoxa, Cistus, Coclchicum, Crocus, Cyclamen, Delphinium, Eranthis, Fritillaria, Galanthus, Gladiolus, Gypsophylla, Hellborus, Hyocinthus, Iris, Laurus, Leucojum, Lilium, Muscari, Myrtus, Narcissus, Nectaroscordum, Nerium, Ophyrs, Orchis, Ornithogalaum, Peaonia, Pancratium, Retama, Rosa, Scilla, Scorzonera, Silene, Sternbergia, Tulipia, and Viola.

One of the reasons why plants from areas around the Mediterranean do well in the Arizona desert is because the climate is in some areas is very similar to our own. Although the climate varies widely in the region, it is generally characterized by relatively mild winters and hot dry summers. Annual precipitation ranges from 30 mm to over 2000 mm on the highest mountains (Sierra Vista's annual rain fall is about 400 mm). I spent a couple of years living in Turkey and found many areas in the interior of the country that look remarkably like Arizona deserts.