Southeast Iberian shrubs and woodlands
RESOLVE 803
The Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands ecoregion runs along a narrow strip of southeastern coastal Spain, in the autonomous communities of Andalucia and Murcia, covering coastal low plains, hills, and badlands. Shrublands dominate, with characteristic genera including dwarf fan palm (Chamaerops humilis), jujube (Ziziphus), wild olive (Olea), mastic (Pistacia lentiscus), rosemary (Rosmarinus), Cistus, and Ephedra, alongside aromatic subshrubs such as Thymus, Salvia, Lavandula, and Teucrium, plus salt-tolerant Suaeda, Salsola, and Limonium near lagoons. This thermo-Mediterranean region is the most arid place in Europe, with mild winters around 11 to 12 degrees Celsius, hot dry summers, frequent drying Saharan winds, and annual rainfall of roughly 200 to 400 mm. It is exceptionally species-rich: more than half of the roughly 7,500 vascular plants found in Iberia occur in the overlapping Murcian-Almerian bioprovince, and its wetlands support water birds including greater flamingos at Cabo de Gata. Several of its native plants, including the aromatic Lavandula, Thymus, and Salvia and the ornamental dwarf fan palm, are familiar to gardeners working in hot, dry Mediterranean conditions.
About the mediterranean forests, woodlands & scrub biome
Regions of hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters supporting drought-adapted shrublands — chaparral, maquis, fynbos — and open woodlands. Fire is a natural shaping force, and these climates hold extraordinary plant diversity and endemism.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.