Platanus orientalis and Liquidambar orientalis woods (Platanion orientalis)

Description (English)

Forests and woods, for the most part riparian, dominated by Platanus orientalis (oriental plane) or Liquidambar orientalis (sweet gum), belonging to the Platanion orientalis alliance.
Subtypes:
Pal. 44.71 Oriental plane woods (Platanion orientalis):
Forests of Platanus orientalis.
Pal. 44.711 Helleno-Balkanic riparian plane forests:
Platanus orientalis gallery forests of Greek and southern Balkanic watercourses, temporary rivers and gorges; they are distributed throughout the mainland and archipelagos, colonising poorly stabilised alluvions of large rivers, gravel or boulder deposits of permanent or temporary torrents, spring basins, and particularly, the bottom of steep, shady gorges, where they constitute species-rich communities. The accompanying flora may include Salix alba, Salix elaeagnos, Salix purpurea, Alnus glutinosa, Cercis siliquastrum, Celtis australis, Populus alba, Populus nigra, Juglans regia, Fraxinus ornus, Alnus glutinosa, Crataegus monogyna, Cornus sanguinea, Ruscus aculeatus, Vitex agnus-castus, Nerium oleander, Rubus spp., Rosa sempervirens, Hedera helix, Clematis vitalba, Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris, Ranunculus ficaria, Anemone blanda, Aristolochia rotunda, Saponaria officinalis, Symphytum bulbosum, Hypericum hircinum, Calamintha grandiflora, Melissa officinalis, Helleborus cyclophyllus, Cyclamen hederifolium, Cyclamen repandum, Cyclamen creticum, Galanthus nivalis ssp. reginae-olgae, Dracunculus vulgaris, Arum italicum, Biarum tenuifolium, Brachypodium sylvaticum, Dactylis glomerata and may be rich in mosses, lichens and ferns, among which Pteridium aquilinum is often abundant. Various associations have been described, reflecting regional and ecological variation in the composition of the undergrowth. The plane tree galleries are particularly well represented along the Ionian coast and in the Pindus; other important local complexes exist in Macedonia, in Thrace, around the Olympus massif, in the Pelion, in the Peloponnese, particularly in the Taygetos, where luxuriant gorge forests reach 1300m, in Euboea and in Crete; local, distinctive, representatives occur in other Aegean islands, such as Rhodes, Samos, Samothrace, Thasos. Restriction to gorges is increasingly pronounced towards the south.
Pal. 44.712 Hellenic slope plane woods:
Platanus orientalis woods on colluvions, detritus cones, ravine sides or other poorly stabilised substrates, of Greece.
Pal. 44.713 Sicilian plane tree canyons:
Relict Platanus orientalis-dominated or -rich galleries of the Cassabile, the Anapo, the Irminio and the Carbo rivers, in the Iblei range of southeastern Sicily, of the gorge of the Sirmeto, in the vicinity of the Nebrodi. Some of these formations, in particular, in the gorges of the Cassabile and of the Anapo, are true plane tree woods. Others, such as on the Sirmeto, are Populus alba, Fraxinus angustifolia, Salix spp. formations with Platanus orientalis; as they grade into each other, and because of the very isolated occurrence, and great biogeographical and historical interest of Platanus orientalis in Sicily, they are all listed here. Plane tree woods have had a much greater extension in Sicily and probably in Calabria. A large forest has, in particular, existed on the Alcantara, where the species is now extinct.
Pal. 44.72 Sweet gum woods:
Riverine forests dominated by the Tertiary relict Liquidambar orientalis, with very limited range in south Asia Minor and Rhodes.
Pal. 44.721 Rhodian sweet gum woods:
Liquidambar orientalis gallery forest of the Petaloudhes Valley, on Rhodes, with poorly developed undergrowth and a ground layer dominated by Adiantum capillus-veneris in damp areas. This forest constitutes the only European formation of this species and harbours the unique, concentrated aggregation of Jersey Tiger Moths, Panaxia quadripunctaria.