The vegetation of the Palmaria and Tino Islands (Gulf of La Spezia). — The vegetation of the Palmaria and Tino islands in the Gulf of La Spezia shows various aspects although they are completely calcareous and do not exceed two hundred meters in height. Along the coast, we have noticed some small beaches with a few psammophytes, and some cliffs vertically overlooking the sea with the endemicCentaurea cinerariavar.venerisand with a few shrubs (among which I would like to mentionPinus halepensis) that become bigger and bigger and grow in number with the altitude. On the southern side of Palmaria the Mediterranean « maquis » withCalicotome spinosa, Cistus monspeliensis, Myrtus communisandPistacia lentiscusis to be noticed. This bush is either compact or rarefied so that it makes a sort of « garigue » on limestone withEuphorbia dendroides, Helichrysum stoechas, Ruta chalepensis, Thymus vulgaris. Owing to the fact that some land strips of Palmaria escaped from fire a thermophilous vegetation is to be found, with a few trees ofPinus halepensisand with a thick undergrowth ofEuphorbia dendroides, Cistus incanus, Pistacia lentiscus, Myrtus communis, Smilax aspera. The vegetation of the northern side of Palmaria and Tino is less thermophilous, together with a thick wood ofQuercus ilexwith some plants ofQuercus pubescensand with undergrowth ofViburnum tinus, Smilax aspera, Smilax mauritanica, Coronilla emerus; this wood, especially in the higher part of Palmaria, shows some glades whereErica arborea, Cistus salvifolius, Dorycnium hirsutumgrow, with some entities which are distributed quite far from the sea, such asPeucedanum cervaria. Still on the northern side of Palmaria there are some traces of chestnut woods withCastanea sativa, Quercus pubescens, Ostrya carpinifolia, Corylus avellana, Cytisus laburnumand with some plants that usually grow in the cooler areas among the chestnut woods and often in the beech woods likeDaphne laureola, Digitalis lutea, Helleborus foetidusandSesleria autumnalis. A comparison between the biological spectrum of the two islands with the one of Capo Caccia in north western Sardinia and of Marettimo island in western Sicily, clearly shows that in going down southwards, a strong increase of the therophytes (respectively 29,57%, 41,73%, 49,59%), of the chamaephytes and of the nanophanerophytes (13,53%, 16,94%, 18,47%) is to be noticed, while the hemicryptophytes decrease (35,33%, 22,72%, 21,28%). Besides, the vegetation of Capo Caccia although being situated half way between the two Ligurian islands and Marettimo, is much more similar to the latter one; evidently Palmaria and Tino are conditioned by their closeness to the La Spezia coasts while having a climate quite different from them.