Page "Chaparral" Paragraph 2

In its natural regime, chaparral is characterized by infrequent fires, with intervals ranging between 10 – 15 years to over a hundred years.

Mature chaparral ( stands that have been allowed greater intervals between fires ) is characterized by nearly impenetrable, dense thickets ( except the more open chaparral of the desert ).

These plants are highly flammable.

They grow as woody shrubs with hard and small leaves ; are non-leaf dropping ( non-deciduous ); and are drought tolerant.

After the first rains following a fire, the landscape is dominated by soft-leaved non-woody annual plants, known as fire followers, which die back with the summer dry period.