Fitosociologia 41 (1): 87-164, 2004 87 Syntaxonomical revision of Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae in the Italian Peninsula Blasi C.1, Di Pietro R.1 & Filesi L.2 1 Dipartimento di Biologia vegetale Università “La Sapienza” di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Roma; e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Dipartimento di Pianificazione, Università IUAV di Venezia, Cà Tron, Santa Croce 1957, I-30135 Venezia Abstract This paper presents a new sintaxonomical scheme for Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae woodlands in peninsular Italy updated at the rank of sub- alliance. On the basis of bioclimatic, biogeographic and coenological diagnosis the Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae order occurs in the study area in the form of five alliances: Quercion pubescenti-petraeae (suball.: Buxo-Quercenion pubescentis), Carpinion orientalis (suball.: Campanulo-Ostryenion, Laburno-Ostryenion stat. nov.; Lauro-Quercenion pubescentis and Cytiso-Quercenion pubescentis), Teucrio siculi-Quercion cerridis nom. conserv. propos. (suball.: Teucrio-Quercenion cerridis suball. nov., Ptilostemo-Quercenion cerridis); Pino-Quercion congestae (suball.: Pino-Quercenion congestae suball. nov., Quercenion virgilianae suball. nov.) and Erythronio-Quercion petraeae. The Quercion pubescenti-petraeae is a sintaxon with a sub-continental character and within the Italian Peninsula it is restricted to Ligurian-Piedmontese Apennine in the form of the sub-alliance Buxo- Quercenion pubescentis. Carpinion orientalis is a sintaxon with oceanic/suboceanic features, which is widely distributed along the entire Italian Peninsula. It occurs mainly on limestone substrates forming woodlands which can be potential vegetation types and also woods of secondary origin and evolution. The Teucrio-Quercion cerridis is an alliance which is widely distributed within central and southern Italy, where it finds its coenological optimum on acid, subacid or neutral substrates such as volcanic outcrops, flysch, sandstones or clayey-arenaceous sediments.