The Quercus cerris woods of the alliance Carpinion orientalis Horvat 1958 in Italy.

Is here presented a phytosociological study of the alliance Carpinion orientalis in the hilly and subcoastal areas of the Italian peninsula. These woods are included in the suballiances Laburno-Ostryenion and Lauro-Quercenion; the distinction between these two suballiances is not always easy also because of the conservation status of these forestal ecosystems. The hilly and subcoastal turkey oak woods of the alliance Carpinion orientalis 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 Teucrio siculi-Quercion cerridis are strongly linked with the acidic substrata typical of the Tyrrhenian side, and so they are sporadically found on the Adriatic side inside small enclaves with more acidic substrata. The numerical analysis has allowed us to rearrange the lower hierarchical levels of the associations of turkey oak woods of the alliance Carpinion orientalis. In particular, the association Lonicero xylostei-Quercetum cerridis has been included in the alliance Carpinion orientalis, and the new subassociation festucetosum exaltatae has been proposed. The subassociation rosetosum arvensis has been proposed for the association Daphno laureolae-Quercetum cerridis, and the new subassociation cytisophylletosum sessilifolii of the association Aceri obtusati-Quercetum cerridis has been described.