Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

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makes Serbia a country with very high floristic diversity and density per unit area compared
to other European countries. All plant species are included in 141 families and 766 genera.
In addition to its position in the Balkans, Serbia also occupies the southeastern part of the
Pannonian plain in the Vojvodina region. It is thus divided into two distinct geographical
and orographic entities which are, though separated by the rivers Sava and Danube,
interconnected by lowland hilly peripannonian Serbia. These basic geographical and
landscape entities have determined the characteristics of the Serbian flora and vegetation, as
well as the differences between the plants distributed in these two micro-regions of Serbia.
Montenegro covers a territory of 13 812 km 2 . A total of 3136 plant taxa (2920 species with
216 subspecies) have been recorded (Stevanović et al. 1995) belonging to 804 genera and
151 families. The floristic richness of Montenegro can be explained by various causes,
including geography (presence of coasts and mountains), historical and other factors.
According to the total plant species number per territory size (LogS/LogA), Yugoslavia
ranks fifth among European countries, Serbia eighth and Montenegro first.
Considering the vegetation diversity of Yugoslavia, over 600 individual plant
communities have been identified, including forests (deciduous and coniferous), steppes,
Mediterranean vegetation, meadows, pastures, vegetation of sand dunes and saline soils,
swamps, alpine tundra, etc.
MAP diversity is also quite high. More than 700 species are considered as medicinal
(Sarić 1989), which accounts for 17.29% of the total flora. Among those, 420 plant species are
officially registered (10.75% of the total flora), while 279 are to be found in Serbian markets.
Medicinal plants of Yugoslavia encompass 89 families, of which the following should be
quoted: Lamiaceae (41 species), Asteraceae (40), Apiaceae (20), Ranunculaceae (19),
Scrophulariaceae (17), Malvaceae (15), Rosaceae (15), Brassicaceae (10), Polygonaceae (10),
etc.
Significance of natural resources
Meadows and forests are the main resources of indigenous medicinal and aromatic plants.
A recent analysis of MAP distribution in Serbian forests (Obratov et al. 2002) showed that
in oak communities (ass. Quercetum frainetto-cerris, the most common forest community of
Serbia), a total of 123 plant species have been identified, including 53 medicinal plants. Some
of the most important medicinal plants in oak forests are the following: Achillea millefolium,
Acer tataricum, Ajuga reptans, Campanula glomerata, Crataegus monogyna, Cornus sanguinea,
Euphorbia cyparissias, Filipendula hexapetalla, Sorbus aucuparia, etc.
At higher altitudes, above the oak zone, beech forests (ass. Fagetum montanum) are well
developed. This association is present on two parent rocks: limestone and silicate. Different
plant species are found on different types of parent rock. On limestone 45 medicinal plants
were identified, of which 4 are recommended for exploitation: Veronica officinalis, Tamus
communis, Clematis vitalba and Corylus avellana. On silicate parent rock 15 different medicinal
plants were identified, of which two are of greater significance: Calamintha officinalis and
Asarum europaeum.
The approximate total number of medicinal plant species present in Serbia is 400, with 122
medicinal plants in beech forests (about 30%).
Meadows and pastures of Serbia have not been sufficiently utilized, although they have
great potential for cattle breeding. The total area covered by grasslands in Serbia is about
1.65 million ha. They are widespread in very diverse ecological conditions, occurring at
different altitudes and on various forms of relief, soil type, climate, etc. Therefore, meadow
vegetation comprises many plant communities differing in floristic structure, stability and
type of succession. Besides agriculture, they may serve as a main source for medicinal plant
exploitation and as a natural genebank of various populations suitable for further cultivation
and selection.