Mountain Desert east of Mount Svorikhti, 2200-2400 m, with small patches of snow. The mountains are cones of hard limestone, thinly and treacherously covered with scree. The slopes, all at 32 degrees, are produced by tens of thousands of years of frost action. Although the Mountain Desert appears utterly barren, it is the home of many small specialized plants; it has the second highest concentration of Cretan endemics. July 1992.