Helleno-Balkanic short grass and therophyte communities

Description (English)

Open, short, grasslands of thermo- and meso-mediterranean areas of Greece and its islands and of the Balkan peninsula, with numerous annual grasses such as Bromus fasciculatus, Bromus madritensis, Bromus intermedius, Bromus alopecuros, Bromus rubens, Brachypodium distachyon, Aegilops neglecta, Aegilops geniculata, Aegilops triuncialis, Avena sterilis, Avena barbata, Lagurus ovatus, Cynosurus echinatus, Stipa capensis, but sometimes with a strong representation of short or medium-sized perennial grasses such as Hyparrhenia hirta, Andropogon distachyos, Cynodon dactylon, Dactylis hispanica. They are very rich in annual flowering plants, among which of genera Euphorbia, Silene, Nigella, Adonis, Papaver, Fumaria, Biscutella, Rapistrum, Althaea, Malva, Linum, Geranium, Astragalus, Ononis, Trigonella, Medicago, Melilotus, Trifolium, Lotus, Coronilla, Scorpiurus, Hedysarum, Onobrychis, Bupleurum, Daucus, Anagallis, Orobanche, Plantago, Centaurium, Galium, Evax, Filago, Pallenis, Anthemis, Chrysanthemum, Tragopogon, suffrutescent labiates of genera Teucrium, Thymus, Ballota, Phlomis, Micromeria, Salvia and others, and geophytes such as Urginea maritima, Asphodelus microcarpus, Lloydia graeca, Allium spp., Ornithogalum spp., Muscari spp., Romulea spp., Orchis spp., Ophrys spp., Anacamptis pyramidalis. They constitute a wide array of distinctive communities, many of them very local and restricted to small surfaces. Many of the more extensive pastures, in particular those dominated by annual grasses, are subnitrophilous or nitrophilous and may be better classified under unit 34.8.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification