Editing Laurel forest (section)

== Characteristics ==
Laurel forests are characterized by evergreen and hardwood trees, reaching up to {{cvt|40|m|ft}} in height. Laurel forest, laurisilva, and laurissilva all refer to plant communities that resemble the [[bay laurel]].{{cn|date=July 2023}}

Some species belong to the true laurel family, [[Lauraceae]], but many have similar foliage to the Lauraceae due to [[convergent evolution]]. As in any other rainforest, plants of the laurel forests must adapt to high rainfall and humidity. The trees have adapted in response to these ecological drivers by developing [[analogous structures]], leaves that repel water. '''Laurophyll''' or [[lauroid]] leaves are characterized by a generous layer of [[wax]], making them glossy in appearance, and a narrow, pointed oval shape with an ''apical mucro'' or "[[drip tip]]", which permits the leaves to shed water despite the humidity, allowing respiration. The scientific names ''laurina'', ''laurifolia'', ''laurophylla'', ''lauriformis'', and ''lauroides'' are often used to name species of other plant families that resemble the Lauraceae.<ref name="ebooksread.com">Otto E. (Otto Emery) Jennings. "Fossil plants from the beds of volcanic ash near Missoula, western Montana" ''Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum'', 8(2), [http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/otto-e-otto-emery-jennings/fossil-plants-from-the-beds-of-volcanic-ash-near-missoula-western-montana-volu-nne/1-fossil-plants-from-the-beds-of-volcanic-ash-near-missoula-western-montana-volu-nne.shtml p. 417].</ref> The term ''Lucidophyll'', referring to the shiny surface of the leaves, was proposed in 1969 by Tatuo Kira.<ref name="Box, Elgene O. 1998" /> The scientific names ''[[Daphnidium]]'', ''[[Daphniphyllum]]'', ''[[Daphnopsis hellerana|Daphnopsis]]'', ''[[Daphnandra]]'', ''[[Daphne (plant)|Daphne]]''<ref>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607</ref> from Greek: Δάφνη, meaning "laurel", ''[[laurus]]'', ''[[Laureliopsis philippiana|Laureliopsis]]'', ''[[Skimmia laureola|laureola]]'', ''[[laurelin]]'', ''[[Malosma|laurifolia]]'',  ''[[Cistus laurifolius|laurifolius]]'', ''[[Viburnum tinus|lauriformis]]'', ''[[Hakea laurina|laurina]]'', ''[[Prunus laurocerasus]]'' (cherry laurel), ''[[Prunus lusitanica]]'' (Portugal laurel), ''[[Corynocarpus laevigatus]]'' (New Zealand Laurel), and ''[[Corynocarpus rupestris]]'' designate species of other plant families whose leaves resemble Lauraceae.<ref name="ebooksread.com" /> The term "lauroid" is also applied to climbing plants such as [[ivy|ivies]], whose waxy leaves somewhat resemble those of the Lauraceae.

Mature laurel forests typically have a dense [[canopy (biology)|tree canopy]] and low light levels at the forest floor.<ref name="Box, Elgene O. 1998">{{cite journal |author1=Box, Elgene O. |author2=Chang-Hung Chou |author3=Kazue Fujiwara |year=1998 |title=Richness, Climatic Position, and Biogeographic Potential of East Asian Laurophyll Forests, with Particular Reference to Examples from Taiwan |url=http://kamome.lib.ynu.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10131/7114/1/biest241061.pdf |journal=Bulletin of the Institute of Environmental Science, Yokohama National University |volume=24 |pages=61–95 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226034538/http://kamome.lib.ynu.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10131/7114/1/biest241061.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-26}}</ref> Some forests are characterized by an overstory of [[Rainforest#Emergent layer|emergent]] trees.

Laurel forests are typically multi-species, and diverse in both the number of species and the genera and families represented.<ref name="Box, Elgene O. 1998" /> In the absence of strong environmental selective pressure, the number of species sharing the arboreal stratum is high, although not reaching the diversity of tropical forests; nearly 100 tree species have been described in the laurisilva rainforest of [[Misiones]] ([[Argentina]]), about 20 in the Canary Islands. This species diversity contrasts with other temperate forest types, which typically have a canopy dominated by one or a few species. Species diversity generally increases towards the tropics.<ref name="Tagawa, Hideo 1995">{{cite journal |last1=Tagawa |first1=Hideo |year=1995 |title=Distribution of lucidophyll Oak – Laurel forest formation in Asia and other areas |journal=Tropics |volume=5 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–40 |doi=10.3759/tropics.5.1 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In this sense, the laurel forest is a transitional type between temperate forests and tropical rainforests.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}