The post-fire regeneration of a 45-yr-old Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) forest, burned in July 1989, has been studied on Mount P h i s , Attiki, Greece. Four experimental plots at various slopes and exposures were established at altitudes of 400 -450 m, and monitored for 3 yr at 3-month intervals. Early regeneration took place abundantly, through both resprouting and seed germination of mostly hard-seeded herbs and shrubs; the floristic richness was high with 80 taxa. Pine seedling emergence took place during the winter of the first post-fire year. The mean pine seedling density by the end of the recruitment period (March 1990) was 5 -6 seedlings/m2. This density decreased slightly during late spring and considerably during summer. During the second post-fire year only a relatively slight decline was observed; thereafter the density was stabilized to 1 -2 seedlings/m2. Mortality follows a negative exponential curve that levels off at ca. 20 ' %. Height distributions throughout the three post-fire years were all positively skewed as a result of the presence of few very tall saplings. A considerable fraction (20 %) of very short (5 -15 cm) saplings were still alive 39 months after the fire; these may constitute the sapling bank. Based on the analysis of height distribution curves, it is concluded that the taller seedlings survived significantly better than the shorter ones.