Portugal - Atlas do Ambiente II.5 - Carta de Distribuição de Alfarrobeira e Amendoeira

Summary

The Chart of the Carob and Almond Trees Distribution is based on elements collected from the «Preparation Chart» for the Agriculture and Forestry Chart, in the scale 1:250 000, worked out by the Agrarian Survey and Land-Use Planning Service, now a National Centre. The criteria followed for this chart are defined, the various occurrences of both species are represented, namely the pure groves, the mixed (dominant or dominated) and the scattered ones. Both species, Ceratonia siliqua and Prunus dulcis, are morphologically and briefly characterized, and reference is made to the intense polymorphism shown by their cultivars. As one deals with cultivated species, introduced in Portugal long time ago, frequently naturalized, their chorological distribution in the country is shown together with some information on ecological, bioclimatological and orographi- cal features. Considering the phytosociological viewpoint, special attention is paid to the areas identified with the potential ones under natural vegetation. In the South (Algarve), the carob tree and the almond tree thrive in areas of the Asparago-Rhamnetum oleoidis and Sanguisorbo-Quercetum suberis associations in the «Litoral» zone, and in areas of the Paeonio-Quercetum rotundifoliae association in the «Barrocal» zone. In the Arrabida range, they occur in areas of the first mentioned association. In the Centre (Estremadura), the almond tree occurs in the Asparago- -Rhamnion alliance and in the Arisaro-Quercetum broteroi assoc