scrub, brush, wild herbs

Characteristic low-growing vegetation on limestone hills in the Mediterranean area, consisting principally of bushy plants (including broom, juniper, wild thyme, rosemary and lavender) and holm oak, resulting from the destruction by logging, cultivation, and fire of the Mediterranean forest which originally grew here. It is differentiated from the maquis (more common in Provence) by the underlying geology which favours different plants.

garrigue An extremely stony, limestone ground of the Mediterranean where only the hardiest plants (such as thistle, kermes oak and gorse) can survive. [compare: maquis