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Dr. Antal Waisbecker was born 180 years ago
179–192Views:164Dr. 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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Contributions to the flora of Western-Transdanubia (W Hungary)
213-234Views:146In 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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The clammy goosefoot (Chenopodium pumilio R.BR.) in Zugló (Budapest) and new data on the distribution of invasive species in NE Hungary
221-226Views:143The paper summarise occurrences of some rare invasive weeds of Hungary. We found currently second population at the Australian origin Chenopodium pumilio in Budapest (Zugló) in September 2016. Further, 27 occurrence data of 8 other species (Amaranthus deflexus, Echium maculatum, Lepidium densiflorum, Oxybaphus nyctagineus, Panicum dichotomiflorum, Portulaca grandiflora, Sarothamnus scoparius, Tragus racemosus) is also reported in the persent paper from the ‘Északi-középhegyég’ area (Northeast-Hungary), and some data from beside the Hungarian–Slovakian border, especially settlements, strongly disturbed places (especially road curbs, pavement cracks, train stations), indicating the Central European flora mapping system quadrate number. Voucher specimens were deposited in herbarium of Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (BP).
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The ‘rediscovery’ of the Birdsfoot Fenugreek (Trifolium ornithopodioides (L.) SM.) in the Hortobágy, Hungary
207–212Views:338In 2009, the first author discovered an unknown population of Trifolium ornithopodioides in the Ágota-puszta of Hortobágy plain. In 2016, the second author found an another population in the vicinity of Karcag (Ecse-zug puszta). Up to now there was only one published occurrence of this species from the region. The specimen collected by Szujkó-Lacza Júlia, Kováts Dezső and Fekete Gábor in 1974 was deposited in the herbarium of the Hungarian Natural History Museum (BP), but this incomplete specimen was misidentified, and not Trifolium ornithopodioides. Therefore, this newly discovered site at Ágota-puszta should be regarded as the first trustworthy occurrence of this species at the Hortobágy plain.
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The Kámon and Herény source water protection area in the city of Szombathely as a refuge for protected plant species
123–125Views:236The hay meadows and protective forest strips of the Kámon and Herény source water protection areas in the northwestern part of Szombathely have been in good natural condition for decades. By harbouring populations of protected plant species (Orchis morio, Pyrola rotundifolia, Cephalanthera longifolia, Epipactis helleborine and Ophioglossum vulgatum), these areas resemble natural habitats found nearby in the Kőszeg Mountains and the Őrség National Park. The good semi-natural condition can be attributed to the lack of regular mowing in the case of meadows and the lack of disturbance in the case of forest strips. In recent years, however, the area have been exposed to increasing human disturbance (car and motorcycle off-roading), so it may be timely to initiate legal protection. This short case study indicates that properly managed source water protection areas can play an important role in the conservation of semi-natural habitats, rare and protected plant species and the associated fauna.
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Lajos Felföldy: a prominent Hungarian botanist and hydrobiologist
3–25Views:213Lajos Felföldy (1920–2016) was one of the most versatile and open-minded Hungarian biologists. He began his scientific career as a student of Prof. Rezső Soó. Between 1938 and 1946 he participated in geobotanical studies in University of Debrecen and Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca, Romania). He contributed with important achievements to the development of several biological disciplines. His pioneering study on the effects of air pollution on epiphytic lichens (1942) was among the firsts in the world. He described Hemitherophyte life-form as a discrete unit within Raunkiaer's plant life-form system (1942). He was a pioneer in the cytological (caryological) study of wild vascular plant species in Hungary (1947–1949). His results regarding to primary production of freshwater algae and algal culture (1958–1960) were in leading edge. In 1972 he founded and until 1990 edited the Hungarian series entitled ‘Vízűgyi Hidrobiológia’. Books of this series aimed to publish identification keys of freshwater taxa. These books were proved to be decisive and useful tools for Hungarian hydrobiologists in biological classification of brooks, streams, rivers and different types of stagnant waters. Between 1934 and 2009 he collected more than ten thousand herbarium sheets. After his retirement, he dealt with the revision of the herbarium material of Department of Botany in Hungarian Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden of Eötvös University (Budapest). He participated in the preparation of the New Hungarian Herbal. His scientific work was characterised by deep humility for nature, which was founded on strong theoretical and practical background.
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Historical occurrence of Spergularia echinosperma, a rare Nanocyperion species in Hungary
3–9Views:300Three species of the genus Spergularia have been known from Hungary. The most widespread one, Spergularia rubra (L.) J. Presl et C. Presl occurs on young sandy fallow fields and other disturbed habitats. The other species, S. marina (L.) Bess. and S. media (L.) C. Presl, occur sporadically in saline grasslands, and both have been recently spreading along salted roads. During a revision of the genus Spergularia in Hungarian herbaria, specimens of the species S. echinosperma (Čelak.) Asch. et Graebn. were found. It is a rare species previously known to occur only in Czechia and Germany and to be extinct in Austria and Slovakia (a few occurrences along the Morava and Danube rivers between 1909 and 1953). However, it was recently discovered in Western Siberia and Kazakhstan. It is a typical mudflat plant that occurs on exposed sandy shores of water bodies. Two herbarium sheets collected by Gyula Tauscher from near the village of Ercsi (riverbank of the Danube) in 1903 were found in the Carpato-Pannonicum collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. In addition, a new specimen was found, collected in Slovakia (Danube near Šamorín, collected by Mihály Résely in 1868) at the vicinity of the Hungarian border. The species was not confirmed during a field inspection of the target localities in Hungary; therefore, we have to consider it extinct in the country as well as in the whole Pannonian Basin. Recently, S. echinosperma was split into two subspecies – subsp. echinosperma and subsp. albensis. The subsp. echinosperma is probably restricted to fishponds in the SW part of Czechia and subsp. albensis occurs mainly in the floodplains of the river Elbe in Germany. The extinct populations of S. echinosperma in the Pannonian Basin belonged to the subsp. albensis. This taxon is morphologically close to S. rubra but can be reliably distinguished by densely verrucose seeds and shorter than wide stipules.
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An identification key for Hungarian botanists portrayed in Album Kleinianum
117-132Views:133In the legacy of Sándor Jávorka deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum there is a 12-page typescript entitled “An identification key for Hungarian botanists portrayed in Album Kleinianum (Budapest, 25 September 1912)”. It provides accurate descriptions of 50 botanists in the form of an identification key, which was compiled by Zoltán Szabó, a well-known botanist at that time. The most important features of each person are presented in a humorous, basically ironic, funny and witty way. The Identification key was prepared for the session no. 178 of the Botanical Section of the Royal Hungarian Natural Science Society, where another botanist, Gyula Klein was congratulated on the 40th anniversary of his teaching profession as well as the 20th anniversary of his membership in the society. Almost all prominent botanists attended the meeting. This paper presents the Identification key, supplied with annotations and photographs.
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Floristical data from abandoned vineyards of Cserhát Hills
260-266Views:62The results of floristic researches in abandoned vineyards of Cserhát Hills (Northeastern Hungary) between 2007 and 2014 are presented along with an account of relevant floristic literature and specimens of the Herbarium Carpato–Pannonicum Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Data of protected species and locally or generally rare ones are presented. Occurrences of Equisetum × moorei, Hesperis sylvestris, Gentiana cruciata, Scabiosa canescens, Campanula macrostachya, Carlina acaulis, Centaurea indurata, C. stenolepis, Epipactis atrorubens and Orchis ustulata subsp. aestivalis are especially significant. Some new localities of the following species are also emphasized: Pulsatilla grandis, Sorbus domestica, Centaurea scabiosa subsp. sadleriana, Orchis militaris, O. × hybrida, Ranunculus arvensis, Rapistrum perenne, Chamaecytisus virescens, Ch. austriacus, Hippocrepis comosa, Euphorbia salicifolia, Thymelaea passerina, Senecio erucifolius.