Acta Botanica 2-2015.indd ACTA BOT. CROAT. 74 (2), 2015 B1 BOOK REVIEW Endemi u Hrvatskoj fl ori by Toni Nikolić, Milenko Milović, Sandro Bogdanović and Nenad Jasprica. 2015, 492 pp. ISBN 978-953-297-763-9. Publisher: Alfa d.d., Zagreb, Print: Grafi ka Markulin It is believed that the fi rst who used the term ende- mism in botany was DE CANDOLLE in 1820. Although the term was already used in medicine, where endemic re- ferred to a disease occurring with high frequency in a defi ned geographical area, but not necessarily limited to it (GARBARI 1990), DE CANDOLLE (1820) gave it a slight- ly different meaning, i.e. to designate a species growing exclusively in a defi ned area (SILJAK-YAKOVLEV and PE- RUZZI 2012). DE CANDOLLE (1875) recognized that en- demic taxa are not just randomly distributed, while range restrictions indicating survival in refugia have been regarded as a driving force in the generation of distributional patterns of endemics. A relationship of areas of high endemism with presumed refugia has been well documented worldwide, especially for the Mediterranean basin (MÉDAIL and DIADEMA 2009); in Croatia alone, three glacial refugia have been registered: the Istrian peninsula, the Velebit and Biokovo mountains. The present book has taken a step further, trying to thoroughly present and elucidate the phenomenon of Adriatic endemism on a much larger geographical scale, dealing with taxa of limited distribution ranges occurring also or exclusively in Croatia. The book has 492 pages divided into the following chapters: Introduction, Endemic taxa in Croatia, two Ap- pendices and 13 Boxes. The text is accompanied by no less than 615 numerated pictures and more than 800 quality photographs (contributed by the authors and colleagues) and 200 hand drawings (most frequently redrawn with permission from ŠILIĆ’s excellent book Endemične biljke (1984)) and an extensive bibliography for each taxon. The book is a joint effort of four authors: Toni Nikolić (TN), Milenko Milović (MM), Sandro Bogdanović (SB) and Nenad Jasprica (NJ). In the Introduction the author (TN) sets the scene by explaining some basic terms linked to the fl ora of Croatia, the current state of knowledge on systematics and distribution of vascular plants in Croatia, and phenomena of endemism on both a global and a local scale including defi nitions on the categorization of endemics with some justifi cations of the crite- ria applied. However, it is exactly the classifi cation of endemic taxa according to selected, well-accepted criteria (e.g. ecology, age, distribution range) that is one of the most contro- versial and intriguing issues in biology but the present book offers a purely technical and somewhat unusual proposal. For example: a taxon is termed “stenoendemic” if it is restrict- ed to a narrow range completely within the borders of Croatia occupying up to approxi- mately 4000 km2 (e.g., in an alphabetical order: Allium croaticum, A. telmateum, Asplenium hybridum, Campanula fenestrellata s.l. etc.). However, while in certain cases even more B2 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 74 (2), 2015 narrowly distributed taxa that occur in Croatia as well as in other areas (e.g. Moehringia tommasinii, the distribution range of which spans Italy, Slovenia and Croatia), are classifi ed as “endemic”. Nevertheless, according to the given criteria and biogeographic analyses, authors thoroughly and in painstaking detail have described 155 (40%) endemic taxa out of 384 (7.6% of the total fl oristic inventory of the country) occurring in Croatia, while 53 (14%) taxa are mentioned in less detail. Due to the lack of information, 102 taxa were not taken into consideration. The extensive database, which was a basis for spatial analyses of endemism in Croatia, enabled some interesting insights into the spatial distribution of ende- mism. For example: the areas with the highest number of stenoendemics per unit area in Croatia are Kvarner, Velebit, the Krka river estuary with the Šibenik archipelago, Adriatic islands in central and southern Dalmatia, Mt. Biokovo and Konavle, while for endemics the most important areas are Gorski kotar, Mts Mosor, Kozjak and Učka, Ćićarija, Kapela, Mt Lička Plješevica and Plitvice lakes, Mts Dinara and Omiška Dinara, the Žumberak and Samoborsko gorje hills, Mt Medvednica, Strahinščica, Ivanščica and the hills near Požega. The next 438 pages of the chapter Endemi u hrvatskoj fl ori are pure gold. Each genus with its subordinate taxa are thoroughly described, covering the Name of a taxon, Place of publi- cation, and Common names in six languages: Croatian, English, Italian, German, French and Slovenian. Then follow: Species description, Distribution, Habitat preferences and ecology, Threats, Additional information and Literature. In 13 boxes authors give addition- al information on important contributors to the knowledge of Croatian fl ora, e.g. Muzio Tommasini, August von Hayek, Čedomil Šilić, Vinczé von Borbas and Paul Kitaibel, to name just a few. Although the selection of the presented taxa did follow a certain logic and defi ned criteria, it is, however, not clear why the authors did not present in detail some re- markable taxa such as: Campanula austroadriatica, C. marchesettii, C. pyramidalis, Carli- na fi umensis, Cerinthe glabra subsp. smithiae and subsp. velebitica, C. tristis, Inula verbas- cifolia subsp. metanea, Onosma visiani subsp. biokovoense, Peucedanum crassifolium, Satureja montana subsp. variegata, S. subspicata subsp. liburnica and subsp. subspicata, Scabiosa silenifolia, Saxifraga prenja, Trinia carniolica (longipes), etc., instead of taxo- nomically (T) and/or chorologically (CH; not according to selection criteria) “dubious” An- thyllis montana subsp. atropurpurea (T, CH), Aquilegia dinarica (CH – its occurrence in Croatia is doubtful), Armeria canescens subsp. dalmatica (T), Asperula wettsteinii (CH – its occurrence in Croatia is doubtful), Cardamine chelidonia (CH), Trifolium dalmaticum (CH) etc. With the exception of Puccinelllia teyberi, there are no other representatives of grasses (Poaceae). An extensive literature list at the end of the description of each taxon is more than satisfactory, although in certain cases one gets the impression that the new in- sights into the systematics and taxonomics, although cited, are somewhat neglected or only partially accepted, e.g. in the case of Brassica incana agg., Onosma echioides agg., Dian- thus sylvestris agg., and the genera Cerinthe and Centaurea. At the very end of the book, in the fi rst Appendix, authors give us a complete list of en- demic taxa of vascular plants in Croatia, while the second appendix in fact represents Index of Latin names of vascular plants. This book is supposed to be a textbook for students attending the course Flora of Croatia at the University of Zagreb, but it will be valuable source of information to any nature explorer, and a must for any botanist interested in the biodiversity and biogeography of vascular plants of the Balkans. It will also serve as a promoter and conservation source ACTA BOT. CROAT. 74 (2), 2015 B3 of vascular plants, as well as a sound grounding for further scientifi c activities in the area. All in all, the book, which has signifi cantly raised the standard for future similar publica- tions even on the international market, makes an impression on the reader and one must give all due credit to the authors for a great effort – an example to be followed. The book layout is fabulous and the print is spotless. Well, well done. Dr. sc. Boštjan Surina Natural History Museum Rijeka, Croatia References DE CANDOLLE, A. P., 1820: Essai e´lementaire de geographie botanique. Strasbourg. DE CANDOLLE, A. P., 1875: Sur les causes de l’inégale distribution des plantes rares dans la chaîne des Alpes. Atti del Congresso Internazionale Botanico Tenuto in Firenze 1874, 92–104. GARBARI F., 1990: L’endemismo vegetale: genesi, tipi e signifi cato biogeografi co. Studi Trentini Sc Nat 66, 113–120. MÉDAIL, F. and DIADEMA K., 2009: Glacial refugia infl uence plant diversity patterns in the Mediterranean Basin. Journal of Biogeography 36, 1333-1345. SILJAK-YAKOVLEV, S. and PERUZZI L., 2012: Cytogenetic characterization of endemics: past and future. Plant Biosystems 146, 694-702. ŠILIĆ, Č., 1984: Endemic plants. Sarajevo, Svjetlost, OOUR Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva. (in Croatian)