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Maquis shrubland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maquis (French) or macchia (Italian; plural macchie) is a shrubland biome in Mediterranean countries, typically consisting of densely-growing evergreen shrubs such as sage, juniper and myrtle. It is similar to heath in many aspects, but with taller shrubs, typically 2-4 m high as opposed to 0.2-1 m for heath. A similar habitat type in North America is known as chaparral, though the species of shrub involved are different.
The word comes from the plural of Italian macchia or thicket. It is most often associated with Corsica, but is widely found on the mainland as well.
Although maquis is by definition 'wild', its appearance in many places is due to human destruction of natural forest cover, mainly by frequent burning preventing young trees from maturing. It tends to grow in arid, rocky areas where only drought-resistant plants are likely to prosper.
The extremely dense nature of maquis made it ideal cover for bandits and guerrillas, who would use it to shelter from the authorities. It is from this meaning that the Second World War French resistance movement, the Maquis, derived its name.
See also the similar garrique.