The habitats of many plant species are being destroyed by various human activities. The building of roads, cutting down the forest, intensifying of the agriculture, over usage of pesticides and mineral fertilizers, mass collecting of medicinal plants and various pollutions of the ground, water and air are the reasons of the greater endangerment of the plants, not only in Croatia, but also all around the world.
There are 44 plants in our country that are protected by the Protection of Nature Law, and all are mentioned in the so called „The Red Book of Plants in Croatia“(in the addition is the list of all the protected plants). There are four categories of protected plants in our country and they are:
- sensitive
-endangered
-rare
-relics
Some of these plants are relics, that is, they are the remains from the old geological periods, and some are endemic plants, that is, very rare plants which inhabit only a small area.

-Pinus mugo,or Swiss Mountain Pine
-Styrax officinalis
-Taxus baccata or European Yew
-Gentiana acaulis often called "stemless gentian"
-Betula pubenscens
-Gentiana clusii sometimes called "Clusius' gentian"
-Quercus coccifera or The Kermes Oak
-Gentiana lutea L. ssp symphyandra
-Aquilegia kitaibelli
-Convolvulvus cneorum
-Eranthis hyemallis
-Scopolia carniolica
-Trollius europaeus
-Centaurea ragusina
-Paeonia mascula
-Doronicum caucasicum or Leopard's-bane
-Degenia velebitica
-Leontopodium alpinum or Edelweiss
-Sibiraea croatica
-Fritillaria meleagris or Snakes's head
-Anthyllis barba-jovis or Jupiter's beard
-Lilium bulbiferum or orange lily
-Polygala chamaebuxus
-Lilium carniolicum or Carniolan Lily or Golden Apple
-Ilex aquifolium or English holly
-Lilium martagon or Martagon lily
-Daphne blagayana or Blagay's Daphne
-Ruscus hypoglossum
-Daphne cneorum or Rose Daphne
-Anacamptis pyramidalis or The pyramidal orchid
-Daphne laureola
-Cephalanthera damasonium or White helleborine
-Eryngium alpinum or Sea Holly
-Cephalanthera longifolia or Sword-leaved helleborine
-Arbutus andrachnoides or Red Barked Strawberry Tree
-Cephalanthera rubra or Red Helleborine
-Rhododendron hirsutum
-Cypripedium calceolus or Lady's Slipper orchid
-Primula auricular often known as Auricula or bear's ear
-Nigritella nigra or Vanilla orchid -Primula kitaibeliana
-Platanthera bifolia or Lesser Butterfly-orchid
-Primula wulfeniana or Wulfen's Primrose
-Palatanthera chlorantha

It grows in deciduous, mixed and evergreen forests, on the meadows from the lowland area to the mountain area.
We all like seeing it in our vases but it likes ground better.

Status: protected plant
Blossoming time: April, May
Habitat: in the forests of oak and European beech, moist and sometimes flooded habitats Specifics: poisonous specie

Status: sensitive plant
Blossoming time: March, April
Habitat: bright forests of beech and oak and underwood, mixed woods of beech and fir Specifics: applied in horticulture

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The protection includes all plants that are rare, scientifically important or endangered. The protection is relevant to a self-growing plant. The plant can be protected on the whole area of Croatia or on a special locality. Taking into consideration the whole plant, only its specific part can be protected for example part above the ground. With this kind of the protection it is forbidden to destroy the habitat and the home of a certain plant and them by any action what so ever. It is forbidden to buy and sell them. This protection includes also the plants that grow in the strict nature reserve although they aren’t specially mentioned. This prohibition, that is, protection is especially important today in our country as well as all around the world because each day many plant species disappear forever. Many meetings on the protection of the nature, on which the importance of the preservation of the plant diversity was especially stressed, were held on the international level.

Degenia velebitica is an endemic plant of Velebit. It is very rare and highly protected. It grows mostly on more polite and smoother turning lathes which lay more to southeast, but also in the rocks’ cracks. Till now it has been found out on only three places. Two of them are original and richer habitats on the south Velebit, especially on the southern slopes of Krug and on the southern slope of Kuka plan or Pavelić plan above Šugarsko dulo. The third is in the middle Velebit, on the southern slope of Solin, near Budak hill some forty kilometres northwest of the first two habitats. The areas on which degenia grows seems to shrink because they are being overgrown by grass. Degenia velebitica is a perennial plant of low growth, all silver-white from flattened star-like spread fluff. The root is long and it pulls in the cracks of the rocks and under the stones of the turning lathes. The stems are between 3 and 11 centimetres long. The leaves are collected into the rosette, closely connected into a spear, without the stalk, jutted from above and concave from within with pointing top. They are from 1-2.5 cm long and e 2-4 mm wide. The blossom is clustered. There are 4 petals which are in the shape of the nail, with rounded and wholesome edges of sulphuric yellow colour. They are 1.5 cm long and from 3.5 to 4.5 mm wide. Depending on the weather conditions, it blossoms from the first third of May till the beginning of June.

Ruscus hypoglossum is a perennial half-bush. It grows in mountain, especially beech, forests and only in clusters. On the flattened stems there are scaly leaves and lathery phylocladia (stems turned into the leaves on which grow blossoms).
Since 1953 it has been protected by the Law on Nature protection. We all know that it is nice to see ruscus hypoglossum in flower arrangement but nevertheless it is more nicely to see it in the nature.

Crocus is on of the heralds of spring. It can be found in forests, meadows, grasslands and in our gardens. In forests and on the meadows you can mostly find self-grown crocus which has smaller flowers and narrow leaves, while in our grasslands and gardens crocus is most often planted and it has richer blossom. They look especially nicely if they are planted more densely in the cluster. There are some 100 types of crocus.
Do not step on crocus because they are becoming rare.

http://gajger.hr/Protected_plants/Zasticene_biljke.htm