The forest is in the White Mountains, in Omalos. There are a few clusters of trees close to Xyloskalo, the entrance of the Samaria gorge. The forest is unique because the tree of zelkova abelicea is endemic to Crete, and only grows in the mountainous areas. It is usually found in shrub form but under the right circumstances it can become a tree 15m high. It is deciduous and its trunk is rough and scaly.
The branches of the tree are quite flexible and for that reason they were traditionally used to make canes that the locals call katsounes. Today, because of excessive grazing this endemic species is endangered, and it is forbidden to be logged.
This species was not always endemic to Crete. The genus zelkova existed in continental Europe but disappeared after the last ice age. It only survived in Crete and Sicily, and because of the isolation it split into two species: the zelkova abelicea in Crete and the zelkova sicula in Sicily.