caatingas A thorn forest of semi-arid, tropical, north-eastern Brazil and similar or allied types of vegetation, including thorn woods and thorn bush. They are differentiated from savannah woodlands by the paucity or absence of grass, which reflects a more prolonged dry period and smaller total amounts of rainfall. The name is also applied to physiognomically and structurally similar vegetation that occurs in patches through the Amazonian rain forest.

caatingas A thorn forest of semi-arid, tropical, north-eastern Brazil and similar or allied types of vegetation including thorn woods and thorn bush. They are differentiated from savannah woodlands by the paucity or absence of grass, which reflects a more prolonged dry period and smaller total amounts of rainfall.