The Scandinavian coastal conifer forests stretch along the western coast of Norway, running roughly from Flekkefjord and Lindesnes in the south north to Senja, where hillsides rise steeply from fjords and the sea. Mixed forests of Scots pine cling to these slopes alongside European ash, wych elm, hazel, grey alder, and small-leaved lime. The climate is strongly oceanic, with comparatively warm but rainy winters and consistent year-round precipitation, around 2,250 mm in the south and about 1,750 mm further north. Heavy rainfall and mild winters support an exceptional diversity of lichens and mosses, and pockets of the region qualify as temperate and boreal rainforest; highly endemic, endangered whitebeams such as Sorbus subarranensis and Sorbus sognensis grow here, yet little of the ecoregion is formally protected. For gardeners, native ornamental woody genera here include Sorbus (whitebeam and rowan), as well as hazel and small-leaved lime.

At a glance

About the temperate conifer forests biome

Temperate forests dominated by evergreen conifers, from coastal rainforests to montane pine and fir stands. Adapted to cool, moist or seasonally dry climates, they include some of the tallest and longest-lived trees on the planet.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions