Nature 182, 475 (16 August 1958); doi:10.1038/182475a0

Root Nodules of Coriaria

PEDRO MONTSERRAT

Instituto de Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Barcelona. May 17.

Coriaria myrtifolia, the only species of the genus occurring in the western Mediterranean region, is extraordinarily abundant in the less dense woodlands of the Spanish provinces of Gerona and Barcelona (eastern part) at altitudes of 200–600 m., reaching occasionally to 1,000 m. and also descending in gullies to sea-level. It is more localized in the provinces of Lérida and Tarragona, and rare in more southerly provinces. It occurs, but is not now regarded as native, in Portugal¹. The species reappears in the western Rif and Algeria, and also in the island of Ibiza², while in southern France it extends from the Gironde to the Alpes Maritimes, penetrating into Italy as far as part of the Apennines. Its occurrence in Sicily and Greece is doubtful.

1. Pinto da Silva, A. R. , Agronomia Lusitana, 8, 14 (1946).
2. Knoche, H. , "Flora balearica", 2, 167, and 3, 175 (Montpellier, 1922–23).
3. Kataoka, T. , Jap. J. Bot., 5, 209 (1930).
4. Bolós, O. de , Collectanea Botanica, 4, 274 (1954).