Included here is northern Greece (including the Pindos Mountains), parts of Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia (including the Karawanken and Julian Alps).

Balkan Calcareous Rock Vegetation

In Bulgaria, Macedonia, Northern Greece and Serbia calcareous rock exposures are frequent in the hill and montane zones. This habitat is very rich in endemic species. In shady situations certain endemic Gesneriaceae including Haberlea rhodopensis, Jankaea heldreichii (Mt Olympus), Ramonda nathaliae and R. serbica are some of the more typical rock plants. These all have a rosette structures typical of many mountain plants. The plants normally associated with the more sunny exposures include endemics such as Euphorbia myrsinites (Euphorbiaceae), Inula ashersoniana and I. macedonica (Asteraceae) and Trachelium jacquinii (Campanulaceae).  On limestone rocks in the Rhodope Mountains the assemblage of plants is likely to include endemics such as Dianthus petraeus (Caryophyllaceae), Linum rhodopensis (Linaceae), Scabiosa rhodopensis (Dipsacaceae), Linum dalmatica, Scrophularia aestivalis and Verbascum balcanicum (Scruphulariaceae).

References

Horvat, I, Glavac, V & Ellenberg, H. 1974. Vegetation of Southeast Europe. Gustav Fischer Verlag. Stuttgart.

Polunin, O. 1980. Flowers of Greece and the Balkans. Oxford University Press.

Turrill, W. B. 1929. The Plant life of the Balkan Peninsula - a phytogeographical study. Oxford.

Webb, D. A. 1966. The Flora of European Turkey. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 6: 1-100.