The <i>Quercus cerris</i> woods of the alliance <i>Carpinion orientalis</i> Horvat 1958 in Italy

A phytosociological study of the alliance <i>Carpinion orientalis</i> in the hilly and subcoastal areas of the Italian peninsula is presented. These woods are included in the suballiances <i>Laburno-Ostryenion</i> and <i>Lauro-Quercenion</i>; the distinction between these two suballiances is not always easy also because of the conservation status of these forest ecosystems. The hilly and subcoastal Turkey oak woods of the alliance <i>Carpinion orientalis</i> are mainly distributed on the Adriatic side of the Italian peninsula, where they are found on neutro-basic substrata to which these coenoses are linked. The Turkey oak woods of the alliance <i>Teucrio siculi-Quercion cerridis</i> are strongly linked to the acidic substrata typical of the Tyrrhenian side, but are sporadically found on the Adriatic side within small enclaves with more acidic substrata. A numerical analysis allowed us to rearrange the lower hierarchical levels of the associations of Turkey oak woods of the alliance <i>Carpinion orientalis</i>. In particular, the association <i>Lonicero xylostei-Quercetum cerridis</i> is included in the alliance <i>Carpinion orientalis</i>, and the new subassociation <i>festucetosum exaltatae</i> is proposed. The subassociation <i>rosetosum arvensis</i> is proposed for the association <i>Daphno laureolae-Quercetum cerridis</i>, and the new subassociation <i>cytisophylletosum sessilifolii</i> of the association <i>Aceri obtusati-Quercetum cerridis</i> is described.