''Carpinus austrobalcanica'', the southern Balkan hornbeam, is a species of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

tree in the family

Betulaceae Betulaceae, the birch family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams, numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of ...

, subfamily

Coryloideae Coryloideae is a subfamily in the woody angiosperm family Betulaceae, commonly known as the birch family, and consists of four extant genera - '' Corylus'' L., '' Ostryopsis'' Decne., ''Carpinus'' L., and ''Ostrya'' Scop. These deciduous trees an ...

, native only to the southern Balkan Peninsula, in particular southern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and northwestern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. First described in 2024 it is, with the European hornbeam (''

Carpinus betulus Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

)'' and the Oriental hornbeam (''

Carpinus orientalis ''Carpinus orientalis'', known as the Oriental hornbeam, is a species of hornbeam in the birch family Betulaceae, subfamily Coryloideae, native to southeastern Europe and Western Asia. It is quite tolerant of dry conditions, and usually occurs on ...

)'', one of three

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

s native to Europe.

Description

''C. austrobalcanica'' is a deciduous tree reaching heights up to 15 meters. It is "closely related" to, but differs from the similar common European hornbeam (''Carpinus betulus'') in a number of characters. Differences can be observed in the structure and colour of the

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

, which is deeply fissured into centimetre-sized scales, and light brown to brown. In this respect, ''C. austrobalcanica'' is more similar to European hophornbeam (''

Ostrya carpinifolia ''Ostrya carpinifolia'', the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus ''Ostrya'' that is native to Europe. The specific epithet ''carpinifolia'' means "hornbeam-leaved", from , the Latin word ...

''). Additionally, the

buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...

are obovate, while those of common hornbeam have a pointed shape. The

leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...

structure also varies, with ''Carpinus austrobalcanica'' having a flat leaf surface that is not wavy, while the other species (common hornbeam) has strongly wavy leaves. The leaf venation in ''C. austrobalcanica'' is not pronounced and more or less in the plane of the leaf surface. In contrast, common hornbeam has a pronounced venation. The

Inflorescences In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis ( pe ...

of ''C. austrobalcanica'' are very elongated, up to 25 cm, interrupted, and usually clearly longer than the supporting leaf, those of common hornbeam are dense, up to 15 cm, rarely clearly interrupted, and usually only slightly longer than the supporting leaf.

Distribution and habitat

''C. austrobalcanica'' is currently known only from a limited range in the northern

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; ; ; ) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly long, with a maximum elevation of (Smolikas, Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epiru ...

of Albania and Greece, specifically the Nemërçka and Tymphe mountain ranges. Here it occurs at altitudes ranging from 850 to 1500m in mixed to almost monodominant stands, in xero- thermophilous communities along with oaks (''

Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an un ...

'', '' Q. pubescens'', '' Q. trojana''), other Coryloidae (''

'', ''

''), maples ('' Acer monspessulanum'', '' A. pseudoplatanus''), rosaceous species ('' Aria graeca'', ''

Prunus mahaleb ''Prunus mahaleb'', the mahaleb cherry or St Lucie cherry, is a species of cherry tree. The tree is cultivated for a spice obtained from the seeds inside the cherry stones. The seeds have a fragrant smell and have a taste comparable to bitter alm ...

''), broad-leaved lime (''

Tilia platyphyllos ''Tilia platyphyllos'', the large-leaved lime or large-leaved linden, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native plant, native to much of continental Europe as well as sou ...

''), cade juniper (''

Juniperus oxycedrus ''Juniperus oxycedrus'', vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level. The specific ep ...

''), Judas tree ('' Cercis siliquastrum'') and tanner's sumach ('' Rhus coriaria''), on

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

soils.

Gallery

File:Carpinus austrobalcanica, Photo from University of Belgrade Dmitar Lakušić.jpg, Trunk (with moss) File:Carpinus austrobalcanica, Photo from University of Belgrade Ivana Stevanoski(1).jpg, Bark (with moss and lichens) File:Carpinus austrobalcanica, Photo from University of Belgrade Nevena Kuzmanović.jpg, Leaves and inflorescences File:Carpinus austrobalcanica, Photo from University of Belgrade Ivana Stevanoski(2).jpg, Inflorescence

Discovery

The species was first described in 2024 by scientists from

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

and

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

References

austrobalcanica Plants described in 2024 {{Taxonbar, from=Q131385723 Trees of Europe Flora of Southeastern Europe Trees of Mediterranean climate