Disentangling the concept of Junco capitati-Isoëtetum histricis Br.-Bl. 1936

The association Junco capitati-Isoëtetum histricis Braun-Blanquet 1936 was described in North-Western Tunisia. During the almost one hundred years after the its typification, the name of this association was applied to plant communities of several different localities in Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy and Crete Island) and North-Africa. The aim of this research was to verify whether the application of this name have drifted the original idea. We collected 110 phytosociological relevès and processed them basing on semi-supervised fuzzy classification and indirect gradient (chorological) analysis. A clear floristic and chorological pattern, with East-Western variations, emerged from the analysis. We disentangled the concept of Junco capitati-Isoëtetum histricis identifying among the communities referred to this name three new associations, Junco sorrentinii-Isoëtetum histricis, Sileno laetae-Isoëtetum histricis, Isoëtetum siculae-histricis, and different subassociations.