Comptes rendus de l’Acad´ emie bulgare des Sciences BIOLOGIE Botanique NEW LOCALITY OF PULSATILLA HALLERI (ALL.) WILLD. (RANUNCULACEAE) IN BULGARIA Alexander Tashev (Submitted by Academician A. Alexandrov on April 11, 2008 ) Abstract The paper presents the first record of the endangered species Pulsatilla halleri (All.) Willd. The reported locality is situated in Westerm Sredna Gora (Sredna Gora of Ihtiman) and was monitored during the period 1998 – 2008. During the 1998 inventory total 89 individuals were found, 53 of which hav- ing generative stems. Next inventories revealed a clear trend of decreasing the population size. The main trees, shrubs and other plant species in the locality are reported and the results showed that it is within a habitat of European importance. A status of protected site is recommended for the locality. Key words: Bulgaria, new locality, Pulsatilla halleri (All.) Willd. Introduction. Pulsatilla halleri (All.) Willd. (Anemone halleri All.) is a perennial herbaceous plant, 5–40 cm in height with oblique or vertical root. It inhabits dry stony places in the bushes, exclusively on limestone. It is distributed in Central Europe (the Alps, the Western Carpathians) and Southeastern Europe (the Balkan Peninsula, Crimea) and in Bulgaria the species is in the easternmost peripheral part of its area of distribution [ 1–2 ]. The species is Alpine-Carpathian- Balkan floristic element (Alp-Carp-Bal ) and its present distribution in Bulgaria includes the Middle Rhodopes and Eastern Stara planina [ 1, 3–6 ]. According to [ 6 ] its vertical distribution covers the range of 300–1400 m a.s.l., and according to [ 5 ] the species occurs within the range of 500–1500 m a.s.l. In Bulgaria, only Pulsatilla halleri (All.) Willd. ssp. rhodopaea (Stoj. & Stef.) K. Krause was reported to date [ 1, 4, 5 ]. Pulsatilla halleri is considered to be of high conservation importance in Bul- garia. It is listed in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria [ 7 ] in the category “rare 1139