Elfin forest is a playful nickname given to several similar ecosystems (mainly in tropical montane regions as well as in California) that are host to communities of tiny plants, insects, and even rodents, such as the California Kangaroo Rat.

In California, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is home to an elfin forest, which is partially within a section of the Zayante Sandhill Area. Los Osos on the southeastern shore of Morro Bay contains the El Moro Elfin Forest Natural Area, about 90 acres in size Given that chaparral areas can be waterlogged in the winter, and arid and nearly desert-like in the summer, native plants in these dry elfin forest areas have adapted accordingly, and are generally much shorter, smaller, and compact than related plants elsewhere.

Diminutive plants commonly found in Californian elfin forests include Portulacaceae like Mount Hood Pussypaws (Cistanthe umbellata) or Alkali Heath (Frankenia salina), and species of Aeonium and bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus). Even trees and shrubs, like oaks (Quercus) or madrones (Arbutus), rarely grow more than 20 ft (7 m) tall in these communities.

High-altitude tropical locations in the cloud forest region, like on Saba in the Netherland Antilles, contain mossy wet elfin forests due to the high-altitude mist.

See also

• Cloud forest