Sustainable Forestry volume: 92 startpage: 1 endpage: 10 2025 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8883 doi:10.5937/SustFor2592001S ISSN: 1821-1046 Institute of forestry Beech forests of Kosmaj as a natural resource of medicinal plants info:eu-repo/semantics/article Abstract: This paper presents the results of research on wild-growing medicinal plants in the beech forests of the protected area of Kosmaj. Beech forests in this region are widely distributed and occur either as pure stands (Helleboro odori–Fagetum moesiacae Soo & Borhidi 1960) or as mixed stands with sessile oak (Querco petraeae Fagetum moesiacae Glišić 1971). The floristic composition of these forests was analyzed using 22 phytosociological relevés. Out of a total of 100 recorded plant taxa, 60 medicinal species belonging to 50 genera and 36 families were identified. The taxonomic analysis showed that the most represented medicinal plants belong to the families Rosaceae (15%) and Lamiaceae (13%), followed by Fagaceae (7%) and Liliaceae (5%). Species of the Central European distribution type were the most common (36%), while the analysis of life forms indicated a predominance of phanerophytes (48.4%) and hemicryptophytes (23.3%), with a notable share of geophytes (18%). Stajić, Snežana Čokeša, Vlado Babić, Violeta Mitrović, Suzana Milosavljević, Marija Eremija, Saša Božović, Jelena eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Keywords: beech forests, medicinal plants, taxonomic analysis, phytogeographical analysis, biological spectrum. application/pdf 644352 bytes