Réflexions suscitées par la culture de graminées africaines à proximité du littoral nord-ouest-méditerranéen

Résumé En

Of the grasses cultivated outdoors since 1967 in the botanical garden of the Faculty of Sciences of St-Jérôme, Marseille (warm, subhumid mediterranean climate), two species of Aristida are shown in the summer of 1969, to have become acclimated. These are Aristida coerulescens Desf. (bioclimatic spread : from the upper to the warm subhumid Sahara, the northernmost stations being the Spanish and Silician coasts) and Aristida tunetana Coss. (bioclimatic spread : from the lower arid to the upper semi-arid). These species, which in Africa are perennials, behave as annuals in France where the conditions of winter kill of the vegetative parts but do not destroy the grain. Additionally three perennial clumps of Stipagrostis ciliata which had been three quarters destroyed by the winter frost have vegetated since spring of 1969 to produce at present (August) three fine plants in full flower. The bioclimatic spread of this last-mentioned species from the lower Sahara to the aride upper Sahara, makes all the more interesting its capacity to survive under growing conditions. In reference to these results, the author is induced to researches of applied botany.