Another type of oak (the black oak) is the dominant tree in this region. It can resist to the rainy weather but also to the dry inland weather. We can also find cork oak, holm oak and chestnut tree. Many valleys and fluvial basins tear the plateau now and then. This makes the region quite windy and we often call them “cold lands” as opposed to the sheltered places, near the rivers, called “hot lands” (actually it should be “not so cold” lands since we can't find much warmth in Trás-os-Montes).
Since this region is immediately to the right of Minho, we can still find granite but as we travel east, the amount of quartz and limestone incresases. The schist exists in all the northern part of the country and is also used in the building of houses. Roofs are built with slate quite traditional in the north-east of Portugal.
A little more to the south people gather in farms and the use of land increases. White wine is produced in the far North; more mature wines, like Port wine, are produced more to the South. The bread is made of rye and wheat. It is an area where potatoes and fruit grow very well.
The Moncorvo mountains are full of iron and some gold can be found in Campo de Jales, since the Romans only took the superficial gold.
