Macaronesian [Laurus] woodland

Humid to hyper-humid, mist-bound, luxuriant, evergreen, lauriphyllous forests of the cloud belt of the Macaronesian islands, extremely rich in floral and faunal species, among which many are restricted to these communities. Genera such as [Picconia], [Semele], [Gesnouinia], [Lactucosonchus], [Ixanthus] are entirely endemic to these communities, while others, such as [Isoplexis], [Visnea] and [Phyllis] reach in them their maximum development; in addition, each of the formations of the various archipelagoes harbours distinctive endemic species. Laurel forests are the most complex and remarkable relict of the humid sub-tropical vegetation of the Mioceno-Pliocene late Tertiary of southern Europe. Areas of intact forests have been drastically reduced to a level below which the preservation of their elements could not be sustained.