Search
Search Results
-
The historical occurrence of Digitaria ciliaris in Hungary – results of a herbarium survey
53–62Views:398Revision of genus Digitaria in BP Herbarium Carpato-Pannonicum collection helped to discover the historical occurrence of Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler from Győr, in the area of an old cotton and wool processing and textile factory. However, it has been proved that the previously published Hungarian records of the species are all wrong, as the Digitaria-keys of Hungarian herbals misinterpreted the taxon, mainly as a synonym of D. sanguinalis subsp. pectiniformis. The herbarium survey confirmed that D. sanguinalis is the most common taxon in Hungary. D. sanguinalis subsp. pectiniformis is also widespread, but probably somewhat under-mapped. Probably not native to Hungary, most probably an archeophyte taxon. Specimens have been collected from disturbed habitats associated to railways and from xerothermic vineyard areas for over a hundred years. D. ischaemum is certainly native to the region, with a recognisable natural distribution pattern, and is found mainly in the sandy and gravelly soils of the lowland and hilly areas of the country. This species has recently become more common in urban areas across the country with the recent spread of sand-lined pavements. D. ciliaris of tropical/subtropical origin is a casual alien species that was formerly present in the Hungarian flora.
-
Ethnobotanical and cultural significance of Chaerophyllum bulbosum in the Carpathian Basin
141–159Views:400Tuberous-rooted chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is one of the iconic plants in the Carpathian basin regarding ethnobotany. It is considered native to this region and it is known by about one hundred different Hungarian folk names and allophones. We have plenty of historical data about its gathering from the wild from the end of the 16th century, but certainly, it could have been collected much earlier by the people who lived here. In the whole Carpathian basin, mostly its tubers (and rarely the leaves as well) were gathered mainly by children, which were eaten in various forms and dishes, but most frequently raw as salad. Its popularity started to decline by the end of the 19th century, and in the middle of the 20th century, it was regarded as one of the ‘beets out of fashion’, which was slowly disappearing from the diet. From the 21st century, there is only one record about its gathering and consumption from Transylvania. In former times, along with other Chaerophyllum and Anthriscus species it was recommended to cure scorbute and diarrhoea and as a poultice for ulcers. In the Middle Ages, it was cultivated throughout Eastern and Central Europe, which could have also been true for the Carpathian Basin. Master Roger mentioned this species among the plants of devastated peasant gardens (1243, after the Mongol invasion). Thereafter, we have records only from the middle of the 19th century showing the obvious growing of its cultivated variety (called ‘chervil-beet’). However, its cultivation remained quite sporadic, and by the middle of the 20th century, it was already fully neglected. The plant occurred in Hungarian cookery books from the 16th century, especially in Transylvanian gastronomy. The remembrance of its former folk uses retained in Hungarian culture as well, it emerges in several poems and prose.
-
The Herbarium of Debrecen University (DE) II.: The „Zoltán Siroki Herbarium”
15-22Views:873The paper introduces the “Zoltán Siroki Herbarium” (on the basis of the MS Excel spreadsheet database of the collection) which is a separate section within the Herbarium of Debrecen University (DE). The Zoltán Siroki Herbarium consists of ca. 20 000 specimens from almost all European countries, but mainly from the historical territory of Hungary. Although ca. 400 botanists contributed to this collection, most of the specimens were collected by Zoltán Siroki in Hajdú-Bihar, Pest and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén counties. The most rapid growth of the Herbarium took place in the middle of the last century (from the 1940s to 1960s), but Siroki remained an active collector until the 1980s. Some specimens from the Herbarium of former Royal Seed Testing Station (Budapest) was also incorporated in this collection; they represent gatherings from the last decades of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century. Data on the most significant part of the collection, representing native plants collected in the present-day Hungary, are summarized in Electronic Appendix 1. (incl. taxon name, settlement, collecting year, collector, file name of documentary photograph).
-
Buglossoides rochelii (Boraginaceae) – a supplement to the flora of the Pannonian Plain
187–192Views:217Previously unknown occurrences of Buglossoides rochelii (Friv.) Stoyanov, Mátis & Sennikov (≡ Lithospermum rochelii Friv.) have been identified in the Pannonian Plain, based on field investigations and a critical revision of the genus Buglossoides in the major herbarium collections of Hungary and Serbia. In both its eastern range and the Pannonian Basin, the species predominantly occurs as a psammophyte. This paper summarizes its historical distribution in Hungary and Serbia, and provides new data on the current status of its habitats and populations in Serbia.