There are more than 10,000 species of plants in Turkey, 20% of which are found only in these lands. The abundant rainfall in the Black Sea region allows the growth of rich forest vegetation, including oak, beech, maple, alder, chestnut and walnut trees. The Dardanels forms a transition between the Black Sea the Aegean regions and therefore has a mixture of temperate and Mediterranean type of vegetation. Thrace has fine forests, which are subject to the continental influence of the Balkans. The coasts of the Aegean and the Mediterranean, from the Dardanels to the Gulf of Iskenderun, have typically Mediterranean vegetation, which extends to the plains and western slopes of mountains as high as 1000 metres. The southern coast has very hot and dry summers and the vegetation in some places is subtropical with banana trees and date palms. In the Taurus Mountains, the vegetation consists of pine and cedar forests, with even junipers at higher altitudes.

Turkey offers an amazing variety of flora.
20% of the more than 10,000 types of plants and trees
are indigenous to this country.

Central and eastern Anatolia are isolated from all maritime influence by mountains. Rainfall is low, the summers hot and dry and the winters harsh. In certain areas, the vegetation is steppe-like but also with forests of pine, oak and beech. The region around the Salt Lake is almost entirely barren. The climate in eastern Turkey is even harsher, although the rainfall in the Southeast allows birches, walnuts and oaks to thrive.