134
CLAUDE J. GRENOT
Fig. 14. Secondary distributor or "comb" situated in a seguia of the palm grove.
large number of vascular species of the Mediterranean or tropical regions
which border the Sahara.
The Saharan cryptogamic flora is not well known, and a general survey
of it is yet to be undertaken. Only certain zones, particularly the mountainous ones, have been worked on by researchers such as Maire (1933,
1940), who studied the Hoggar, Maire and Monod (1950), who
dealt with Tibesti, and Quézel (1958), who also contributed to this field.
The algae of the Sahara have not been worked on since Gauthier-Lievre
(1941, in Quézel, 1958) reported on the freshwater and salt marsh
algae. An approximation of the number of the other cryptogams
groups known is: 60 mushrooms, 90 lichens, and about 100 mosses
(Faurel and Schotter, in Quézel, 1958). The number of known species
of coprophilic, mycological vegetation in the Sahara is already more than
100 (Faurel and Schotter, 1965a,b, 1966). In spite of the rarity of the
higher mushrooms in the open desert, often hypogenous mushrooms
(closely related to truffles and known as terfez) develop after a spring
rain as parasites on the roots of Helianthemum. These mushrooms are a
delicacy for the nomads (Fig. 15).
CLAUDE J. GRENOT
Fig. 14. Secondary distributor or "comb" situated in a seguia of the palm grove.
large number of vascular species of the Mediterranean or tropical regions
which border the Sahara.
The Saharan cryptogamic flora is not well known, and a general survey
of it is yet to be undertaken. Only certain zones, particularly the mountainous ones, have been worked on by researchers such as Maire (1933,
1940), who studied the Hoggar, Maire and Monod (1950), who
dealt with Tibesti, and Quézel (1958), who also contributed to this field.
The algae of the Sahara have not been worked on since Gauthier-Lievre
(1941, in Quézel, 1958) reported on the freshwater and salt marsh
algae. An approximation of the number of the other cryptogams
groups known is: 60 mushrooms, 90 lichens, and about 100 mosses
(Faurel and Schotter, in Quézel, 1958). The number of known species
of coprophilic, mycological vegetation in the Sahara is already more than
100 (Faurel and Schotter, 1965a,b, 1966). In spite of the rarity of the
higher mushrooms in the open desert, often hypogenous mushrooms
(closely related to truffles and known as terfez) develop after a spring
rain as parasites on the roots of Helianthemum. These mushrooms are a
delicacy for the nomads (Fig. 15).