The Vascular Vegetation Populating the Flora in Building Materials of Historic Monuments Cities of the West Central Region of Morocco

Abstract

In the concern of the preservation of the main historic monuments of the cities of Rabat and Sale (Morocco), a botanical study was conducted in 2009. The prospecting of these monuments allowed raising an inventory of the flora populating their building materials, and it has proved that this flora is rich and diversified. Indeed, it consists of 171 adventitious species distributed in 46 botanical families. The most represented families are Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Geraniaceae, Brassicaceae and Lamiaceae. They supply, to them only 49.7% of the specific size. The annual therophytes and the dicotyledon are dominant with respectively 66.7% and 84.7% of the specific size. Nevertheless, the presence of more than 20 species of trees and perennials constitutes a serious danger for bulwarks walls, especially by the phenomenon of fissuring by the action of the huge roots of these vegetables. These vegetables fitting into are placed on joints or cracks fissures have a chemical action on stones by acids that they release, and also a mechanical action by the growth of roots inside cracks fissures. They remain one of these are one of the important biological factors of the degradation of historic monuments. It is to note that the bulwarks walls of the site of Chella (Roman ruins) present more floral diversity than the other canvassed monuments (91 species) that are 53% of the total size.