Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2011
Greece is estimated to have between 4,650 and 4,900 species of vascular plants, about 742 of which are endemic. The Mountain Flora of Greece covers about one-third of the total number of species and a considerably larger proportion of the endemics. Of 926 taxa (species and subspecies) treated in volume 1 (1986), no less than 304, or c. 33%, were either not recorded for Greece in Flora Europaea or were recorded under a different name or with a different rank or both. Phytogeographical analysis shows that 51% of the taxa are “narrows” (restricted to the Balkan Peninsula + Italy or the Balkan Peninsula + Anatolia), and 49% are more widely distributed. Crete is particularly rich in regional endemics, and Peloponnisos and Sterea Ellas have the highest numbers of Greek endemics. An Anatolian element is well-represented in Crete and in the north cast, reflecting the 2 principal routes of migration. Examples of Greek-Anatolian distributional patterns arc given, including some distributions that are widely disjunct.