Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests
RESOLVE 806
The Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests stretch across the coastal lowlands of southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, along with the Dalmatian islands of Croatia and Malta, within the Palearctic's Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands and Scrub biome. Evergreen sclerophyllous oaks dominate, especially holm oak (Quercus ilex) and cork oak (Quercus suber), mixed with deciduous downy oak (Quercus pubescens), manna ash (Fraxinus ornus), and hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia), while maquis shrubland of olive, carob, strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), mastic, myrtle, and tree heath fills out the understory. The climate is typically Mediterranean, with very hot, dry summers and mild, humid to subhumid winters. The region is notably endemic-rich, with Sardinia alone hosting hundreds of endemic plant species, and it shelters raptors such as the griffon vulture, Eleonora's falcon, lanner falcon, and Bonelli's eagle, with the Dalmatian black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. dalmatica) as its flagship species. For gardeners, several ornamental natives originate here, including the strawberry tree, myrtle (Myrtus communis), bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), and oleander (Nerium oleander).
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.