Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 91, July 2009, pp. 1-31. | Page 5

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4. Mount Tabor Oak (Quercus ithaburensis) Woodlands: This Mediterranean tree grows
in Palestine's drier and warmer coastal areas, although much of these woodlands have
been converted into olive groves.
5. Carob and Terebinth Woodlands: These forests cover the limestone hills at the foot of
the central mountain range.
6. Lotus and Herbaceous Vegetation: These shrubs are scattered over the hilly southeastern Galilee, making it look like a park without trees.
7. Savanna Mediterranean: In areas too warm and too dry for Mediterranean trees, the
quasi-tropical jujube and spiny trees of Sudanese origin grow.
8. Semi-Steppe: Where Palestine‟s Mediterranean region meets the desert, the
vegetation changes to semi-shrubs.
9. Cushion-Plants: Mount Hermon plants that grow beyond 1,900 meters above sea
level must survive three to five months covered by snow each year and another four to
five months of drought. The dominant vegetation here is small, spiny, rounded, dense
shrubs known as cushion-plants.
10. Steppe: Semi-shrubs cover the slopes and hills of areas of the country that receive 80
to 250 mm. of rain a year. This vegetation formation is often referred to as steppe.
11. Atlantic Terebinth Steppe: On rocky terrain higher than 800 meters, the Atlantic
terebinth (Pistacia atlantica) grows.
12. Desert: Steppe vegetation gradually gives way to Saharo-Arabian plant species as
the climate becomes drier.
13. Sand: Each of Palestine's three sandy areas has a different climate and sand of
different origin. Each, therefore, has different kinds of vegetation.
14. Oases: The warmest parts of Palestine are the Araba (Arava), the Dead Sea and the
Jordan valley. Run-off and underground water accumulate here, enabling trees of
Sudanese origin to grow in the oases, and salt-resistant date palms (Phoenix dactylifera)
to flourish around desert springs.
15. Desert Savanna: In the Rift Valley, rainfall gradually increases northward from an
annual 30 mm. around Aila (Eilat) to 150 mm. north of Areeha (Jericho). Sudanese trees
with long roots take advantage of the high water table in this area of poor rainfall;
making parts of it resemble the East African savannas.

Gazelle – Number 91 – July 2009