Forests are among the most threatened ecosystems at the global scale, and endemic plants are often a vulnerable component of the flora of a given territory. So far, however, European forest endemic taxa have been scarcely investigated, especially those of the understory of the southern regions. Italy has a significant incidence of plant endemism and a broad diversity of forest types, but the endemic taxa typical of these habitats are still poorly known and not even inventoried. Accordingly, we elaborated a list of species and subspecies restricted to Italian forests using available information to refer each taxon to one of two categories of European forest specialist plants. This resulted in a list of 132 taxa (96 species and 36 subspecies), mostly linked to forest interior habitats. However, uncertainties about the taxonomic and endemic status affected a significant proportion of the taxa, and even trees. Available information about taxonomy, regional distribution, ecology, biology, functional traits and conservation status was included for each taxon. This resulted in a datasheet that allowed baseline statistics to be calculated. The rate of forest endemism, especially local, increased with decreasing latitude and was highest in Sicily and Calabria, where paleoendemic mono- or oligotypic genera were also present. Phanerophytes represented a considerable proportion, especially on islands. Beech and deciduous oak forests were the most important habitats, suggesting the role of glacial refugia of the southern mountain massifs.  Hygrophilous woodlands resulted     also home of stenoecious local endemics. Overall, however, the ecology, biology, and functional traits of the forest endemic taxa are still poorly known. About 20% of the taxa resulted “Critically Endangered”, “Endangered” or Vulnerable”, while over 50% were flagged as “Data Deficient”. Fire was the most recurrent threat. More knowledge is needed about these globally rare taxa, to support their conservation in changing forest landscapes.