This article offers a comparison of the neophyte flora in three cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Banja Luka, Mostar and Sarajevo, in order to assess the role of neophytes in the flora of cities located in different phytoclimatic regions.The results indicate low similarity of the neophyte flora in the investigated cities.A total of 123 neophytes have been recorded, only 27 (21.95%) of which are common for all three cities.The invasive component includes 58 taxa (47.15%), 20 (34.48%) of which are common for all three cities.The highest percentage of invasive plants was recorded in Banja Luka (58% of the neophyte flora of the city), followed by Mostar (55.55%) and Sarajevo (53.12%).A total of 43 families have been recorded, with Compositae being the richest (31 taxa), followed by Poaceae (9), Amaranthaceae and Solanaceae (7 taxa each).A comparison of the biological spectrum reveals that therophytes are represented best in all three cities: Banja Luka (27 taxa -54%), Mostar (50 taxa -55%), and Sarajevo (34 taxa, -53.12%).A study of the geographical origin shows dominance of the taxa originating from the Americas in all three cities (34 taxa -68% in Banja Luka; 62 taxa -68.89% in Mostar and 39 taxa -60.94% in Sarajevo).

Regardless of migration of the population from rural to urban areas, traditional knowledge of medicinal and aromatic plants still exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.An ethnobotanical interview has been conducted in 48 rural settlements.For every cited species, the form of use, useful parts, common name, and application were recorded.At the population level, frequency citation, relative frequency of citation and use value have been studied, in order to determine the significant plants for the local community.The participants use actively 91 plant species from 44 families.The highest number of medicinal plants belongs to the families Lamiaceae and Rosaceae.The respondents use mostly the leaves, followed by inflorescences, roots, fruits, and herbage.Plants are usually applied in the form of infusions, cordials, food supplements, and tonics.Even though the settlements have been affected by mass migration of the population, traditional knowledge related to the use of medicinal and aromatic plants still persists.Respondents over 45 years of age have reported that they know how to use 11 species of useful plants on the average.That average number goes much lower with young respondents up to 25 years of age.A marked decline has been noted in the intergenerational knowledge transfer and 17.53% of the younger respondents have never used any traditional medicine, irrespective of the fact that they can list up to five different plants.The presented results of this research should provide a basis for further investigations and management activities in the ethnobotany of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Bulgaria, Galatella cana was found only once near Lom town (Montana District) in 1892 and it had remained with an unconfirmed status ever since. A new locality, in the Thracian Lowland floristic region, was discovered in 2023, based on some misidentified specimens in the historical collection of Václav Stříbrný. The aim of the present article is to confirm the occurrence of G. cana in Bulgarian flora and to provide data of its only surviving population. An updated dichotomous key to the Bulgarian representatives of the genus Galatella is also presented.

The updated checklist of the bryophyte flora of Albania (SE Europe), with the addition of eighteen new records (and several regional ones) presented here, comprises 583 taxa (species, subspecies, varieties) representing 212 genera and 96 families.The main list includes tabular distributional data by region.Reports after 1950 are differentiated from the earlier ones.The list is organized taxonomically (hornworts, liverworts and mosses) and in alphabetical order within each division.Updated synonymy and a systematic synopsis are presented at the end.

Fourteen new taxa are reported as new to Albania: 60 at the regional level and 18 confirmations of pre-1950 records. The total number of taxa reported for Albania is now 548, which stands for an increase of almost 75% since the publication of the preliminary checklist in 2006.

The article provides information on the occurrence of Tilia ×haynaldiana, a hybrid of T. platyphyllos and T. tomentosa, in Greece.This hybrid has been previously known to exist only in Northwest Romania and Montenegro.T. ×haynaldiana combines two characteristic features of its parental species: the ribbed fruits of T. platyphyllos and the stellate indumentum of T. tomentosa.Probably, such hybrids are more common than reported earlier but often are not distinguished from their parental species.

The aim of this study is to examine anther development and cytochemistry of Hibiscus syriacus. The anther sections were stained with hematoxylin, Coomassie brilliant blue, periodic acid-Schiff and Sudan black B for cytochemical analyses. Characterization of cell death was checked by DAPI staining. The anther wall of H. syriacus consisted of epidermis, endothecium, middle layer, and glandular (secretory) tapetum. According to the authors' results, the epidermis was rich in insoluble polysaccharides and lipids, although the other anther wall layers were poor in organic materials. In the middle layer and tapetum, cellular degeneration started in the early pollen stage and continued in the vacuolated pollen stage. During the mature pollen stage, only the epidermis, endothecium and mature pollen grains remained in the anther lobes. The large-sized pollen grains were isopolar, spheroidal and pantoporate. Their cytoplasm was rich in protein and insoluble polysaccharides. Pollen ornamentation was echinate. The obtained results have provided new data on the male generative sphere of H. syriacus and the genus Hibiscus.

The area of interest is located in the Western Srednogogie region of Bulgaria and is entirely covered by the Vitosha (BG 0000113) site of the ecological network NATURA 2000.The aim of the presented research is to assess the erosion regulation capacity of different habitats and mosaics in Vitosha Mountain.Habitat data is provided by the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria.Drainage network is extracted from the digital elevation model by GIS software.Values of drainage density per square kilometer within different habitats are calculated.Spatial pattern of the drainage network and its density are presented and discussed.