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Hungarian localities of Himantoglossum adriaticum and its land-use history
84–94Views:144Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann is a Natura 2000, CITES species and strictly protected plant in Hungary. During my field work (1992–2016) I realized some similarities in the characteristics of the habitats where the plant grows, so I wanted to know the land use history of the areas in question. The H. adriaticum population of Keszthely Hills was studied the longest time. There were annually 7–78 inflorescences between 1992–2016. Recently two further localities were found in Keszthely Hills. They grow in the edges of grasses used earlier as pasture, minor roadside verges and nearby abandoned vineyards. The largest population can be found in Sümeg region, majority of the individuals are along a paved road. Among the estimated 1000–2000 individuals 10 (2012) to 214 (2014) flowered. In Kőszeg, the lizard orchid grows in abandoned vineyards and in old traditional orchards. The maximum number of inflorescences was 165 (2016). In Bakony Hills its habitats are vineyards and orchards abandoned approximately 50 years ago. The size of H. adriaticum population here is nearly the same as in the Keszthely Hills. Four out of the five populations are growing on sites used as vineyard or orchard already in the years of the First Military Survey. The only exception is the population of Sümeg region. Every habitat is threatened by spontaneous forestation, but the species is able to find new habitats, so we do not worry about the drastic decline of the individuals in Hungary.
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In memoriam Palkó Sándor (1959–2002)
179-186Views:113Sándor Palkó (1959–2002) was the first nature conservation surveyor in Zala county at the Balaton-uplands National Park. While he was nation-wide recognized ornithologist, he extended our knowledge with many floristic data too, but we remember him mostly for his imaginative activity in nature conservation. He sent on his experience dozens of young conservationists and stood them on their own ways. His dedication carried with him all those who had predisposition. The Research and Ringing Camp of Fenékpuszta established by him has become one of the most important camps of the country for avian migration research and nature conservation practices.
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Flowering phenology and distribution pattern of Lizard Orchids (Himantoglossum)
157-167Views:82Hybridization is very rare between the species of Himatoglossum genus, despite the fact that it is common in other orchid genera. The reasons for this can be the lack of overlapping distribution areas or the different flowering period of the species. In the paper distribution and flowering data of Himantoglossum species are presented from herbarium sheets or references (sources paper-based or internet). We collected 1001 precisely dated flowering records of 12 species. In case of 6 species (H. adriaticum, H. caprinum, H. comperianum, H. hircinum, H. jankae, H. robertianum) we had sufficient records to calculate the average flowering day and blooming length. According to the collected data the distribution of the species are overlapping except for H. formosum, H. galilaeum and H. metlesicsianum. Studying 55 species pairs, insignificant differences in blooming time were only at 21 species pairs, among them only 5 (H. comperianum - H. caprinum, H. montis-tauri - H. comperianum, H. hircinum - H. adriaticum, H. montis-tauri - H. caprinum és H. jankae - H. calcaratum) have overlapping distribution area. Data on hybridization could be found only at three species pairs among them. From the results we can conclude that in the case of Himantoglossum genus the rarity of hybridization is mostly due to the phenological isolation.
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Flora of Sztána and Zsobok villages (Transsylvania, Apuseni Mountains, Kalotaszeg)
114-132Views:61The botanical and ethnobotanical studies of PÉNTEK & SZABÓ (1985) were repeated after 30 years, during an ethnobiological summer school held in Kalotaszeg region (Romania), in Apuseni Mountains. However, our intensive floristical researches focused only on two villages (Sztána and Zsobok). A list of the observed taxa and their frequency values are presented. Of the 747 taxa 52 are new to the narrow region. 74 species reported formerly from here were not found by us. The disappearance of some taxa (e.g. Crepis praemorsa, Conringia orientalis, Lolium temulentum) are probably due to changes in agricultural land use methods. The spread of a few new invasive species (e.g. Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Galinsoga ciliata, Senecio vernalis) as well as the presence of some floristically interesting species (e.g. Centaurium pulchellum, Carex otrubae, C. serotina, Lathyrus pannonicus subsp. collinus, Leucanthemum irrcutianum, Minuartia viscosa, Peucedanum rochelianum, Quercus pubescens, Trifolium diffusum, T. micranthum) and a notomorpha (Cirsium × tataricum) were also noticed.
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Land-use history of a habitat of fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris L.) in W Hungary
25–30Views:86In Hungary, Fritillaria meleagris is known as a species of riparian woodlands however it forms large populations on meadows appeared after woodland clearance too. We monitored one such population on the floodplain of the small river Zala in Western Hungary near Tüskeszentpéter. To explore the history of land use on this site we used the maps of Military Surveys of Hungary, aerial photographs and archive documents (1720–2016). The first written records of the settlement (Tüskeszentpéter) built in a meander of the river Zala are dated to 1301. By 1784, the studied area was covered by wet meadows and only small fragments of forests, as it could be seen on old maps. That time the main livelihood was animal husbandry which required a lot of hay to be stored for winter. These floodplain hay meadows were very productive. Between 1895 and 1930, after the regulation of river Zala flow most of meadows were transferred into arable fields. Small-scale farming almost disappeared by 1960s because of ‘collectivization’. Big hay-cut machinery started to be used and this way of land farming can be seen on the meadows nowadays too. Fritillary populations occur only in areas which have been continuously managed as hay meadows for 300 years. Over six years of observations (2012–2017) the number of annually flowering Fritillaria individuals varied from 630 to 5314. As traditional animal husbandry is no longer economical in Hungary, the maintenance of these historic floodplain meadows depends on different nature conservation supports.
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Salutation of Professor László Almádi on his 80th birthday
3–15Views:129László Almádi, the 80 years old professor at the Georgikon Faculty of Keszthely University, has a several decades long history in teaching. During this period, he taught a large number of students in agriculture with an up-to-date agrobotanical knowledge, and launched the career of or had a great impact on many field botanists working in nature conservation. His ability to identify plants is excellent, and he did pass this knowledge on. Besides his huge fascination for plants, his precision, broad and well-founded knowledge serve exemplary for us. Professor Almádi’s rich life is presented in this tribute paper based on his personal stories and written publications, and is supplemented with our own memories, experiences. We cordially greet our Professor on the occasion of his birthday!
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The Wildflower of the Year 2016 in Hungary: snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)
79–100Views:761In this paper a short review of the nomenclature and etymology, taxonomy, morphology, histology, life cycle, phenology, reproduction, habitat preference, biotic interactions, biologically active compounds, micropropagation, applications possibilities and conservation status of snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris L.) can be found. Refining of the European distribution area and contributions to the distribution in Hungary are also presented. Primer seed-set, thousand-seed weight, soil charac¬teristic and demographic data are published.