Vol. 20 No. 2 (2015): In memoriam Antal Waisbecker
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Dr. Antal Waisbecker was born 180 years ago
179–192Views:147Dr. Antal Waisbecker (1835–1916) was a Hungarian physician and the most prominent botanist of Vas county (West Hungary) at the turn of the 19–20th century. He contributed with important floristic data for the botanical monography of Vas county, authored by Vince Borbás. He processed the pteridophytes of Vas county and cormophytes in the surroundings of Kőszeg. Antal Waisbecker was an expert in the knowledge of sedges too. He discovered and described the Carex fritschii. Remarkable amount of herbarium specimens collected by Waisbecker are deposited at the Savaria Museum (Szombathely, SAMU) and Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest, BP).
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Bruchia flexuosa (Schwägr.) Müll. Hal. a true peculiarity in the Hungarian bryoflora
193-201Views:118The fifth European occurrence of the moss species Bruchia flexuosa possessing a holarctic distribution range with a North American centre was encountered in Hungary. Outside of the North American continent only two Asian (both from Japan) and four European occurrences from four different countries (Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia) have hitherto been reported. Apart from the recent Japan findings and the Croatian record observed in 1987, all other European records date back to the 19th century. Our paper reports the circumstances of the Hungarian occurrence along with a short descriptions and photographic illustrations of both the species and its habitat.
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A new record of the threatened Anacamptodon splachnoides (Froel. ex Brid.) Brid. from the Bükk Mts. (NE Hungary)
202-205Views:140A new locality of the moss species Anacamptodon splachnoides (Froel. ex Brid.) Brid. was discovered in a Turkey oak-dominated forest stand in the Bükk Mts. (near Varbó village, North Hungarian Montains). A small population of this threatened bryophyte was found in a wet root-hole of a living Quercus cerris L. tree.
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Bryofloristial studies in an abandoned alumina refinery near Almásfüzitő, NW Hungary (a case study)
206-212Views:109Based on data collected during field surveys between 2012–2014, the author presents the results of bryofloristical studies carried out in an abandoned alumina refinery. The author has detected altogether 46 bryophytes from the territory, of which 15 species are new to the bryoflora of the settlement. In the surroundings of the industrial zone (where alumina production was carried out until 1997) some bryophytes, which are classified as least concern (Brachythecium albicans, Brachythecium tommasinii, Rhynchostegium murale) and near threatened status in the Hungarian Red List (Aloina aloides, Brachythecium glareosum, Dicranella staphylina, Didymodon insulanus, Orthotrichum pumilum), can be found.
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Contributions to the flora of Western-Transdanubia (W Hungary)
213-234Views:121In this paper, we presented the results of our floristic survey in West-Hungarian region. The data were collected between 2005 and 2015 and supportted with herbaria or photo-documentation. This paper reports new floristic data of 98 taxa from West-Hungary with altogether 172 field-collected data records. In the survey we focused on little-known taxa with a phyto-geographic importance. For some taxa we checked the herbarium specimens of Savaria Museum and Natural History Museum of Budapest. During our fieldwork we recorded 8 species new to W-Hungary, including 3 species considered to be native to the region [Oenanthe banatica Heuff., Koeleria pyramidata (Lam.) P. Beauv., Polycnemum majus A. Braun.]. Almost all of the recorded species are regarded as indigenous plants, many of them has nature conservation importance, thus, their monitoring are highly advised. We found new localities of many species which of high importance for plant geography describing their current distribution. Most of the recorded species occur in natural or semi-natural habitats, but some taxa were found in synanthropic habitats and extensive arable lands.
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Data to the flora and geobotany of Kisalföld (Lesser Plain) region, NW Hungary
235-253Views:128Lesser Plain (Kisalföld) – divided among three countries (Austria, Hungary and Slovakia) – is the westernmost part of the lowland areas of the Pannonian Basin. Present paper provides a résumé of the authors’ floristic work from the Hungarian part of the area, describing localities, habitats and regional phytogeography of 57 taxa altogether. The localities were listed according to the classification of small geographic regions. The most important results of the study are as follows:
- We recorded 5 species new to the region (Brachypodium rupestre, Bromus ramosus, Hypericum dubium, Lathyrus sphaericus, Tordylium maximum); all of them can be considered as submontane-montane elements.
- We reported several species new to a microregion within the Lesser Plain: montane species in the W-SW part of the Plain (Cirsium rivulare, Dryopteris dilatata, Equisetum telmateia), loess-connected species mainly on the Moson Plateau (Agropyron cristatum, Allium atroviolaceum, Euphorbia salicifolia, Viola ambigua); and occurrences of species on sandy soils near the Lake Fertő (Draba nemorosa, Stipa pennata).
- We explained the known localities of several salt tolerant species (e.g. Carex divisa, Crypsis alopecuroides, Juncus maritimus, Limonium gmelinii, Suaeda pannonica) from the Lake Fertő and its surroundings.
- We assessed the role of the forest management and nature conservational actions in the distribution of some important tree species (Acer tataricum, Betula pubescens, Fraxinus ornus, Quercus petraea, Salix pentandra).
- We discussed the regional nature conservational status of several protected and/or threatened species (e.g. Allium carinatum, Allium suaveolens, Carex strigosa, Hottonia palustris, Potamogeton coloratus, Stellaria palustris) in the Lesser Plain.
The activities of the authors in the surroundings of Győr were supported by monitoring results gained during the Hungarian Little Plain project (LIFE08 NAT/H/000289).
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The occurrence of Viola collina Besser in the Bükk and Uppony Mts. (N Hungary)
254-258Views:137Herbarium revisions and recent field observations revealed the occurrence of Viola collina Besser in the Bükk and Uppony Mts. (northern Hungary). This species has not been reported from the North Hungarian Mountains thus far. Altogether 94 localities of V. collina have been recorded in that region between 2007 and 2014. A map of the species’ local distribution is provided. Local habitat preferences of V. collina are briefly discussed.
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Carpathian, Transylvanian, Dacian and Pannonian elements in the flora of Sălaj region (NW Romania)
259-267Views:129This paper gives an account of biogeographically interesting plant species of the traditional ethnographic region Sălaj (in Hungarian: “Szilágyság”, NW Romania). The flora of the region, which is situated between the Transylvanian Basin and the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain, contains, besides the prevailing European species, a significant percentage of plant species from different biogeographic regions. Among these we noticed the continental species of eastern origin, as well as southern Sub-Mediterranean species broadly distributed in this area. A significant number of other interesting species is further represented by the endemic and sub-endemic Carpathian (Aconitum moldavicum Hacq., Symphytum cordatum Waldst. & Kit.), Transylvanian (Cephalaria radiata Griseb. & Schenk, Onosma pseudoarenaria Schur subsp. pseudoarenaria), Dacian (Helleborus purpurascens Waldst. & Kit., Phyteuma tetramerum Schur) and Pannonian (Centaurea sadleriana Janka), species, which occur in very different habitats.
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The Wildflower of the Year 2014 in Hungary: Siberian flag (Iris sibirica L.)
268-285Views:150In this paper a review of the nomenclature, etymology, taxonomy, morphology, histology, life cycle, phenology, reproduction, habitat preference, biotic interactions, biologically active compounds, micropropagation, application possibilities and conservation status of Siberian flag (Iris sibirica L.) can be found. Leaf traits, phenological data, seed-set, thousand-seed weight, germination, growth rate and soil characteristic data are published based on original observations:
- Leaf area is between 25,3 and 52,9 cm2, its dry mass is 232 and 272 mg/g, specific leaf area is 14,5 and 15,0 m2/kg; based on measurement of 5–5 leaves of sibirica, collected from Tapolca and Létavértes (Hungary) in May of 2014.
- Based on herbarium dataset, blooming of sibirica begins at the end of April and lasts to early-July, contrary to the literature data (May–June).
- Capsules contain (0–)58–76(–121) fertile seeds. (20–)60–80(–90)% of ovules develops to (seemingly) viable seeds, meanwhile the other ovules remain as aborted ones or develop to infertile seeds (probably because of absence of resources); based on fruits collected from Regéc (Hungary) in 2014 and 2015.
- Thousand-seed weight of sibirica is 8,8298–11,2914 g (based on 3×100–100 seeds collected from Regéc and Tapolca in 2014 and 2015), which is lower value than the literature data.
- In our germination test (50–50 seeds sowed to wet soil, after different treatments) 14% of scarified seeds, 6% of scalded seeds, 4–4% of imbibed and control seeds, 0–0% of cooled and refrigerated seeds are germinated. Scarified seeds germinated in the 8–26th days, imbibed seeds 15–19th days, control seeds 16–20th days, scalded seeds 20–23th days after sowing. It seems that scarification stimulates, meanwhile temperature-treatments inhibit the germination. Until 18 weeks the seedlings grow to 30 cm (in mean) and develop 5–7 leaves (in mean). After the 14th week, the first and littlemost lateral leaves are necrosed.
- Analyses of soil samples collected from 17 locations of sibirica in Hungary, suggest that the species prefers highly acidic to slightly alcalic, lime-free to highly calcareous soils with generally high amount of humus and clay, different amount of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen and low concentration of salt.
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Plant functional traits and their application in ecological research I.
286-299Views:114The importance of studies based on plant functional traits is indicated by the huge number of papers (more than 5000) published in the last 15 years in this topic. In community ecology the recent trend of studying organisms on the functional- rather than on the taxonomic level is quite significant. In this review we attempted to summarise the applicability of functional plant traits commonly used in ecological studies. We discussed the levels of functional categorisation, described the different plant strategies based on functional traits and emphasised the usage of standardised measurements. The most outstanding trait databases are introduced here, showing their availability, content and specialities. This review is intended as an introduction to the topic and can later be completed by papers elaborating on how plant functional traits are used in theoretical and applied plant ecology.
Short communications
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Short communications
300-310Views:5421. New occurrence of Apium repens (Jacq.) Lagasca in Szigetköz region (NW Hungary)
2. Casual occurrences of Limonium gmelinii (Willd.) Kuntze subsp. hungaricum (Klokov) Soó in roadside verges
3.On the first sub-spontaneous occurrence of Asparagus verticillatus L. in Hungary
4. New occurrence data of Digitalis lanata Ehrh. in Kemence (Börzsöny Mts., N Hungary)
5. First report on the occurrence of Prospero paratheticum Speta from Danube–Tisza Interfluve (C Hungary)
6. Some interesting floristic data from Szigetköz (NW Hungary) after the great flooding of Danube in 2013
7. Newly discovered locality of the pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaica L.) in the city of Debrecen (E Hungary)
8. Kindbergia praelonga (Hedw.) Ochyra in the urban bryoflora of the town of Sopron (W Hungary)
9. Additional data to the distribution of Plantago coronopus L. in Hungary
10. On the formerly occurrence of Spiraea crenata L. in Kunpeszér (C Hungary)
11. History of discovery of Spiraea crenata L. on Mt Sas (Buda Mts., Hungary)