Article

Phytogeographic considerations on the flora of N Cyrenaica emphasizing its remarkable peculiarity are presented. This area ean be considered as an island surrounded in the north by the Mediterranean Sea and in the south by tbe Libyan Desert. Tbis is testified by tbe relevant percentage of Mediterranean species (c. 40%), generally absent in the rest of NE Africa, and of endemics (c. II %), most of them paleoendemics. Moreover the occurrence of numerous and rare E Mediterranean species (c. 9%) suggests ancient paleogeographic connections mainly with the Aegean territories. Chorological observations on the floristic arrangement of the chief plant communities occurring in Cyrenaica are al so given.