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LE HOUEROU, H. N. (2004). Plant diversity in Marmarica (Libya and Egypt): a catalogue of the vascular plants reported with their biology, distribution, frequency, usage, economic potential, habitat and main ecological features, with an extensive bibliography. Candollea 59: 259-308. In English, English and French abstracts.

Marmarica, as it is called since antiquity, is the natural region located between the Jebel Lakhdar of Cirenaica and the Nile Delta over an E-W distance of 750 km. It covers an area of 220000 km(2) along the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea between longitudes 23degreesE and 30degreesE. It is a typically Mediterranean and zone in the northern fringe along the shoreline, shifting slowly to absolute desert southwards on a depth of ca. 300 km. Mean annual rainfall is slightly below 200 mm in the northernmost sites dropping to 10 mm at the oases of Jarabub and Siwa 300 km further south. The flora belongs to the Ibero-Maghribian entity of the Mediterranean phytogeographic region with some Saharo-Arabian and Irano-Turanian elements. It includes an overall 1015 vascular taxa representing 48% of the Egyptian flora and 53% of the Libyan flora. Eighteen taxa are endemic to the region. Flora and vegetation are very homogenous and strongly influenced by 3 types of farming: 1) irrigation between Alexandria and El Alamein (ca. 100 km W of the Nile); 2) runoff farming in the valleys along the wadis of the coastal plains with episodic mixed dry fanning of cereals; 3) grazing on fallow, stubble and the depleted steppes on the interfluves. Vegetation and flora are strongly influenced by the impact of man: virtually all of the pristine steppe vegetation still present, and mapped in the years 1960’s have now been cleared for opportunistic farming. This situation has heavily imprinted on the flora and vegetation now dominated by <>. The present study presents a catalogue of the native taxa reported in both the Libyan and Egyptian part of Marmarica with their biology, abundance, frequency of occurrence, geographic distribution, economic and grazing potential, utilization and ecological requirement traits in terms of climate and soils. An extensive bibliography is provided.