ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION This chapter focuses on temperate evergreen trees, especially those experiencing a Mediterranean climate. These, in part, have their origins in rainforest lineages from past periods of wetter climate (Cowling et al., 1996; Dallman, 1998). Temperate evergreen forests (TEFs) occur in both the northern and southern hemispheres, and include the remarkably diverse acacias and eucalypts of Australia – in which the world’s tallest hardwood tree species occur; the rich evergreen oak forests of the Mediterranean; the very striking southern beech forests of Chile, Tasmania, and New Zealand; and the evergreen temperate coniferous rain forests of California. The last of these has already been considered in
Chapters 2-3 and will not be further discussed here. Among the more unusual trees found in the TEFs
are a number of arborescent monocotyledon species, which include the South African Aloe dichotoma (quiver tree, 183), the Californian Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree, 184), the Mediterranean Dracaena draco (dragon tree, 185), the Australian Dasypogon hookeri (pineapple bush, 186), and species of Xanthorrhoea (grass trees, 187). Southwest Australia also has the endemic Nuytsia floribunda (Christmas tree, 188), the only arborescent species of mistletoe. Dwarf forests include the stunning vertebrate-pollinated banksias and proteas of the southern continents, while woody irids form elfin forests in the fynbos of South Africa.
