Native legumes in the flora of Pčinja valley (South Serbia) — species diversity and distribution pattern

Abstract

The flora of Pčinja valley, as situated in southern Balkan Peninsula, is comparatively rich in native legume species, representing important genomic and breeding resources for legume crops and forages. According to their taxonomical diversity, legume family belongs to the group of most important plant families in the flora of Serbia, and at the same time the second best represented in the flora of Pčinja valley. Considering elements different in origin and ecological requirements this family comprises impressive list of 100 species and subspecies that represents more than 40% of their total number in Serbia. At the same time such a large number of representatives are distributed across the area of hardly 0.17% of whole country area. The genus Trifolium, referring 32 taxa, is the most abundant among all other genera in the flora of the valley. The following genera: Vicia (15), Lathyrus (11), Medicago (7), Chamacytisus (5) and Astragalus (4) are also considerably rich at the family level. The life forms spectrum points at ecological group of annual representatives taking the largest portion of the all legume flora of valley.