September 2018
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With ca. 3650 plant species in a small area of 28,748 km2, floristically Albania is ranked among the richest countries of the Europe. Th e recent data on plant species in Albania, published during this decade, allow us to re-evaluate the current knowledge on the state, distribution of endemic plants and their hotspot areas, altitudes and corresponding vegetation zones. Based on our data collected along 15 years and the literature, in Albania there are 68 endemic taxa or 54 species and 14 subspecies that belong to 19 families and 40 genera. The data show also that the southern fl oristic region is richer with 45 taxa, compared with 23 taxa found in the north and north-eastern part of the country. With respect to species distribution, Tomorri Mountain and Acroceraunian Mountains range have remarkably high presence of endemic species. Generally, most of endemic taxa occur in the altitudes from 400 m up to 1500 m, on open grasslands in between shrubs and forests of the Sub-Mediterranean and Sub-Alpine regions. Regarding conservation status, from the total number of endemics, only 12 species are considered as threatened one, where six species are assessed as CR, two species as EN and four species as VU. Th e high number of species and the low numbers of endemics, compared to neighboring countries such as Greece with 913 species, Italy with 712 species and Macedonia with 135 species, indicate that the Albania should have larger number of endemic plant taxa as far as we know it at present. Keywods: Albania, endemic taxa, threatened, Tomorri Mt and Acroceraunian Mts