Egypt’s varied flora is rich in medicinal ingredients which were well
known to the ancient Egyptians and served them for many purposes. Of
late they have been rediscovered as a potential means of producing modern
phytopharmaceuticals. A bio-technology laboratory was established to in-
vestigate the therapeutical value of the plants in cooperation with several
pharmacological centres in Egypt (see <http://www.businesstoday-eg.com/
msurv1.html>). The ideal locations for growing the medicinal plants are the
various oases with their relatively unpolluted environments.
A description of Egypt’s vegetation would not be complete without men-
tioning the problem that has come to be called desertification. One has to
differentiate, however, between the processes currently occurring and those
that happened in ancient times. Little research exists on the latter, but it
may be legitimate to draw comparisons with processes of desertification that