nt-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is a stratified forest, with a layer of
very tall trees such as the endemic chestnut-leaved oak (boland-mazu;
Quercuscastaneaefolia), Siberian elm (derakht-e-azad; Zelkovacrenata) and iron
tree (anjili; Parrotiapersica) and more common elms, maples, and hornbeams
(ulas); a layer of smaller trees like the endemic Gleditchiacaspica (lilaki), Diospyros
lotus (kalhu), and Albizziajulibrissin (shabkhosb), boxwood (shemshad) in shady
spots and all kinds of wild fruit trees; and an underwood with evergreen bushes
such as Prunuslaurocerasus (jal) and holly (khas), moss, wild vine, ivy, and
other creeping plants. Medium altitude mountains are the realm of the lofty
oriental beech (rash; Fagusorientalis), associated with oaks (balut),
lime-trees (namdar), maples (afra), and elms (narvan; qq.v.). The upper
mountain level, between 1800 and 2200 m, has remnants of a quite poorer
forest of stunted oaks (uri; Quercusmacranthera) and hornbeams
(Carpinusorientalis). Alpine meadows, climatic at higher altitudes, have often
replaced these upper mountain forests, some of them, on highest ridges or
sheltered slopes, show distinctly xerophytic features.
The so-called Mediterranean island around
Rudbar and Manjil is conspicuous through its specific vegetation, natural as
well as cultivated, i.e., its very sparse cypress (q.v.) forests and its
olive-groves.
The weather system in Lahijan is more
favorable than the other points in the Gilan. It has warmer winters and cooler
summers
