Sclerophyll forest

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf).

Sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world, but are most typical in the chaparral biomes. They are prominent throughout western (Perth region), eastern (Sydney region) and southern (Adelaide region) parts of Australia, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biomes that cover the Mediterranean Basin, Californian chaparral and woodlands, Chilean Matorral, and the Cape Province of South Africa. The sclerophyll leaves have three leaf stress traits used to cope with hot and dry summer. 1. The leaves are hard due to lignin, which prevents wilting and allows plants to grow 2. Small and thick to reduce the water loss and save more water in the leaves 3. It is leathery which resistant hot.

The term was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898 (translated in 1903), originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but later was changed.

Most areas of the Australian continent able to support woody plants are occupied by sclerophyll communities as forests, savannas or heathlands. Common plants include the Proteaceae (grevilleas, banksias and hakeas), tea-trees, acacias, boronias, and eucalypts.

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