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Garrigue, in France.

Garrigue or phrygana (, Greek Φρύγανα)[1] is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

It is found on limestone soils in southern France and around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast where the moderated Mediterranean climate provides annual summer drought.[2][3][4]

The term has also found its way into haute cuisine, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigue shrubland.[5]

Habitat and vegetation[edit]

Garrigue in Languedoc, Occitanie.
Cistus and Senecio are characteristic plants of the garrigue.

UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre described garrigue as "discontinuous bushy associations of the Mediterranean calcareous plateaus, which have relatively alkaline soils. It is often composed of kermes oak, lavender, thyme, and white cistus. There may be a few isolated trees."[6][7][8]

Garrigue is discontinuous with widely spaced bush associations with open spaces, and is often extensive. It is associated with limestone and base rich soils, and calcium associated plants.

Aside from dense thickets of kermes oak that punctuate the garrigue landscape, juniper and stunted holm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such as lavender, sage, rosemary, wild thyme and Artemisia are common garrigue plants.


The aromatic oils and soluble monoterpenes of such herbs leached into garrigue soils from leaf litter have been connected with plant allelopathy, which asserts the dominance of a plant over its neighbors, especially annuals, and contributes to the characteristic open spacing and restricted flora in a garrigue.[9] The fines (charred wood and smoke residues, or charcoal dust) of periodic brush fires also have had an effect on the patterning and composition of the garrigues. Clear summer skies and intense solar radiation have induced the evolution of protective physiologies: the familiar glaucous, grayish-green of garrigue landscapes is produced by the protective white hairs and light-diffusing, pebbled surfaces of many leaves typical of garrigue plants.

Similar ecoregions[edit]

Garrigue is a common general word for the shrubland habitat ecosystems in southern France along with maquis, which are known elsewhere in the Mediterranean region as matorral and tomillares in Spain, macchia in Italy, phrygana in Greece, garig in Croatia, and batha in Israel.

In California a similar Mediterranean climate ecoregion is named chaparral; in Chile it is named the matorral; in South Africa it is named fynbos; and in Australia it is named mallee. All are in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.


Both garrigue and maquis are associated with the Mediterranean climate within the Mediterranean region. However, the distinction is not clear and term use is inconsistent.

Maquis shrubland is broadly similar to garrigue, but the vegetation is more dense, being composed of numerous closely spaced shrubs. Maquis is associated with siliceous (acid) soils, unlike the relatively alkaline calcareous soils of the garrigue. Its plant communities are often suites associated with holm oak. Calcifuges such as Erica and Calluna are present in the maquis ecoregion.


Deforestation of the indigenous oak forest since the Late Bronze Age, for cultivation of olives, vines and grain, the introduction of sheep and especially goats and charcoal-making for heat and iron-working, exposed the land surface to weathering and resulted in erosion of the topsoil.[10] The wild garrigue, then, is a man-formed landscape. The intensity of grazing pressure has had a direct response in the ecotope, reflected today in the decline of goat-pasturing.[11]

Origin of the word[edit]

First cited in the French language in 1546, the singular word garrigue is borrowed from the Provençal dialect of Occitan garriga, equivalent to old French jarrie. Etymologist Oscar Bloch states that it is most likely related to the Gascon carroc, meaning rock and to the Germanic Swiss Karren, a kind of sedimentary rock. These related words could stem from a supposed carra, or rock, which could be a remnant of a pre-Latin language, to judge from its geographic distribution even before Celtic times, and possibly akin to Basque *karr-, harri, 'rock'.[12] It is thought that Gallic and Latin incorporated these words and then transmitted them in various forms to the Romance languages.[13]



The dense, thrifty growth of garrigue flora has recommended many of its shrubs and sub-shrubs for uses as ornamental plants in traditional and drought tolerant gardens. Many shrubs and flowering perennials of the garrigue are mainstays of the English "mixed border" of herbaceous and woody plants found in English gardens, and around the world, though often grown under cooler, moister conditions.

Some have become invasive species in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome's other ecoregions beyond the Mediterranean Basin on other continents, including the California chaparral and woodlands.


Grapes that are grown in the garrigues region of France are said to produce wines with a "barnyard" or "earthy" tone, or "the herbal scent of lavender that fills the hills of Provence in the summer time."[14] Some wines bottled in Southern France contain the word garrigues as part of their appellation or label name.[15]

See also[edit]


  1. ^
  2. ^ "Garrigues en pays languedocien" (in French). Ecologistes de l'Euzière. 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02. Retrieved March 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Shield, Peter. "History of the Garrigue". Southern Times. Retrieved March 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ Garrigue, une histoire qui ne manque pas de piquant, Ecolodoc no. 7 - Éditions Écologistes de l’Euzière, avril 2007 ISBN 978-2-906128-20-0
  5. ^ Bienvenue sur le site officiel de l'office de tourisme de la région de Sault Archived 2006-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, "European Forests and Protected Areas: Gap Analysis", 2000 (pdf file)
  7. ^ Renault, J.-M. (2000): La Garrigue - grandeur nature. - Barcelona: Les créations du Pélican.
  8. ^ Hubert Delobette, Alice Dorques, Trésors retrouvés de la garrigue, Le Papillon Rouge Éditeur, 2003 ISBN 2-9520261-0-6
  9. ^ John D. Thompson, Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean (2005:148ff).
  10. ^ Braudel, Fernand. The Mediterranean in the Age of Philip II
  11. ^ Z. Henkin et al., "Suitability of Mediterranean oak woodland for beef herd husbandry" Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 109.3/4, (September 2005:255-261).
  12. ^ Bloch, Oscar, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, p. 275.
  13. ^ Bloch, Oscar: "Garrigue," page 270, Dictionnaire Etymologique, Paris, 1950
  14. ^ "Wine Tasting Report: Chateau Saint Martin de la Garrigues 1997 Bronzinelle Coteaux du Languedoc". Wine Lovers Page. March 2000. Retrieved March 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  15. ^ Stéphane Batigne, Arnavielle, une famille des garrigues, Mille et une vies, 2008 ISBN 978-2-923692-01-2

External links[edit]