European flora

Meadow gentian growing in the Austrian Alps.

Botanically speaking, Europe can be divided broadly into the extreme northern tundra, which is essentially treeless, except for the hardy mountain birch Betula tortuosa; the European portion of the northern coniferous forest belt; the temperate deciduous forest belt, typified by oak Quercus robur and beech Fagus sylvatica; and the Mediterranean region, much of whose evergreen forest is now reduced to dry scrub, but which is nevertheless rich in plant species.

Tundra The northernmost reaches of Scandinavia constitute the European section of the Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra. The flora of this region is probably one of the youngest in the world.

Forests The bulk of Europe consists of the northern coniferous forest belt and the temperate deciduous forest belt.

In Scandinavia, the main formation is the European portion of the northern coniferous forest belt. This is species-poor when compared with its counterparts in Siberia and North America, the only trees of any importance being the Scots pine Pinus sylvestris and the Norway spruce Picea abies.

Southwards, these coniferous forests are gradually replaced by the main European forest formations, the deciduous forests that spread across the continent after the end of the last ice age. In Eastern Europe, transitional forests of oak and hornbeam grade into feather-grass (Stipa) steppe, whereas in the west, the forests are characterized by an abundance of oak Quercus robur and Q. petraea, birch Betula, and holly Ilex aquifolium. Little of these forests remains intact today, however, though some of the derived communities created by human activity, such as the Atlantic heaths and the limestone grasslands, are of enormous botanical interest. The former are well known for their abundance of ling Calluna vulgaris and their Erica species, such as E. cinerea and E. tetralix.

The plants of the European Alps are also noteworthy, with Gentiana species, Narcissus poeticus, Crocus albiflorus, and the unexpected presence of certain isolated genera and species that belong to families otherwise confined to the tropics. An example is the genus Ramonda of the Gesneriaceae. From the more lowland parts of this European subregion come many plants of horticultural and economic importance, like the beech Fagus sylvatica, which forms large forests in the central European lowlands, Laburnum anagyroides, the daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus, and the primrose Primula vulgaris. The grapevine Vitis vinifera is thought to originate in the Caucasus.

The Mediterranean region has a rich variety of species, including many that are unique to the region. Notable examples that have been introduced elsewhere as garden plants include Aubretia, Cyclamen species, Lavandula spica, Paeonia officinalis, and bay Laurus nobilis. Over much of the region, the original vegetation was mainly evergreen forest dominated by the holm oak Quercus ilex. The surviving remnants of this forest show that the shrub layer included box Buxus sempervirens, Viburnum tinus, Phillyrea species, Pistacia species, and Rosa sempervirens, while the herb layer was characterized by species such as butcher's broom Ruscus aculeatus and wild madder Rubia peregrina. In the west, cork oak Quercus suber is also important, but both Q. suber and Q. ilex give way to Q. coccifera in the eastern Mediterranean. Everywhere humans have affected these forests. Q. ilex forest has been invariably reduced to maquis, in which the trees are cut to the ground every 20 years or so. In some areas they are cut more often, and, with grazing and burning, are reduced to an open community of dry scrub called garrigue, which is dominated by low cushions of Quercus or Juniperus, but which is rich in annuals, Iris species, orchids, and Asphodelus.