These laurel forests are called 'laurasilva', and they're not unique to the Canary Islands. They're found in many places with high humidity and stable, mild temperatures. They're characterized by tree species whose leaves have a glossy layer of wax and a narrow, pointed oval shape with a 'drip tip' that lets them shed water, allowing respiration. Such trees are called 'laurophyll' or 'lauroid' - they don't need to actually be from the laurel family.
Laurasilva occur today in Macaronesia (the archipelago containing the Canary Islands), southern China, Japan, Taiwan, the southeastern US, parts of Chile and Argentina, southern Brazil, New Zealand and southeastern Australia, East Africa, and elsewhere. They don't come from a single lineage: they are independent assemblies of whatever locally available trees converged on the same leaf strategy in similar climates.
Thanks to David Quintero (npub1qf9…r5tc) for getting me interested in this!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_forest
(2/2)
John Carlos Baez
npub1nf…3nqe4
2026-09-14 09:41:13 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…z577
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npub1nf4p4rh06z6n6lsvje4txk7eqs23y3hs8vd7nraq6tgwady5qvsqy3nqe4Published at
2026-09-14 09:41:13 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "These laurel forests are called 'laurasilva', and they're not unique to the Canary Islands. They're found in many places with high humidity and stable, mild temperatures. They're characterized by tree species whose leaves have a glossy layer of wax and a narrow, pointed oval shape with a 'drip tip' that lets them shed water, allowing respiration. Such trees are called 'laurophyll' or 'lauroid' - they don't need to actually be from the laurel family.\n\nLaurasilva occur today in Macaronesia (the archipelago containing the Canary Islands), southern China, Japan, Taiwan, the southeastern US, parts of Chile and Argentina, southern Brazil, New Zealand and southeastern Australia, East Africa, and elsewhere. They don't come from a single lineage: they are independent assemblies of whatever locally available trees converged on the same leaf strategy in similar climates. \n\nThanks to nostr:npub1qf9e7fukukmnxlhnvk2l34cflucf40vmdjwyk78luj6l8yy97kxq7ar5tc for getting me interested in this!\n\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_forest\n\n(2/2)",
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