FLORISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOENICIAN JUNIPER MACCHIA

Areas where the Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea) is very abundant, as well as communi-ties in which this species is dominant, represent a special form of forest community, commonly de-veloped as xerothermic macchia known as Pistacio lentisci – Juniperetum phoeniceae and included in the Oleo-Ceratonion alliance. This association represents an important progressive stage in the suc-cession towards evergreen vegetation, developed mostly after forest fires. In this paper, we ana-lysed the floristic characteristics of the Pistacio lentisci – Juniperetum phoeniceae association on the is-lands of ^iovo, [olta, Bra~, Hvar, Kor~ula and Lopud, including the peninsula of Pelje{ac and the Dubrovnik coastal regions (Dubrova~ko primorje). In the southern localities this association is still in its initial phase of development, while the Central Dalmatian results indicates a succession of vegetation towards the development of a Querco ilicis – Pinetum halepensis forest community