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Sclerophyll woody plants are characterized by their relatively small, stiff, leathery and long-lasting leaves. The sclerophyll vegetation is the result of an adaptation of the flora to the summer dry period of a Mediterranean-type climate.
Matorral is a shrubland plant community, composed of sclerophyll ("hard-leaved") shrubs and small trees, cactus, and bromeliads. Typical species include litre ( Lithraea caustica ), quillay or soapbark tree ( Quillaja saponaria ) , cactus ( Echinopsis chiloensis ), and bromeliads of genus Puya , with a diverse understory of herbs, vines, and ...
The increase in light availability allows the Eucalypts to have greater floristic diversity than found in wet sclerophyll forests. [4] Growth rates of all plants in dry sclerophyll forests are slow and as water is the limiting factor in these environments, energy for growth is often directed to the roots and lignotubers.
Major plant communities in this biome include: Forest: Mediterranean forests are generally composed of broadleaf trees, such as the oak and mixed sclerophyll forests of California and the Mediterranean region, the Eucalyptus forests of Southwest Australia, and the Nothofagus forests of central Chile.
The plants in this community tend to have rough and spiky leaves, as they are grown in areas with low soil fertility. Wet sclerophyll forests, which are part of Eastern Australian temperate forests, have narrow, relatively tall, dense trees with a lush, moist understory of fleecy shrubs and tree ferns.
Major plant communities in the ecoregion include broadleaf sclerophyllous shrublands (maquis and garrigue), pine forests (chiefly of Turkish pine (Pinus brutia) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis)), and dry oak (Quercus spp.) woodlands and steppes. Turkish pine is more common in the Turkish coastal region, and Aleppo pine in the Levant.
The main plant communities are wet and dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands at lower elevations, with alpine coniferous forest, montane grasslands, montane shrublands, and alpine plant communities at higher elevations. Rainforest species can extend up to the treeline, generally as understorey plants in sclerophyll or conifer forests. [1]
The semi-sclerophyll character is due (in part) to the sandy soils and often periodic semi-arid nature of the climate. As one moves south into central Florida, as well as far southern Texas and the Gulf Coastal margin of the southern United States, the sclerophyll character slowly declines and more tree species from the tropics (specifically ...