The islands have a unique biogeography, and are home to several distinct plant and animal communities. The laurel forests, known as "laurisilva", of Macaronesia are a type of mountain cloud forest with species of a vegetation type which originally covered much of the Mediterranean Basin when the climate of the region was more humid and evolved to adapt to island conditions. These forests once covered most of the Azores, Madeira, and parts of the Canary Islands ("Canaries") between 400–1200 m altitude (the eastern Canaries and Cape Verde being too dry).