Zs. K. Komáromy szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 17. 1984 (Budapest, 1984)

Vöröss, László Zsigmond: János Wagner's Tilia herbarium

accepted the great number of forms, though incorporated only the spontanously reproducing species into his system and merely listed the rest. He adapted the keys to the forms with some modification. His corrections of nomenclature are restricted only to changes which have taken place since the publication of the monograps. This is the greatest compliment on his part! Since then a number of forms described as cultivated ones have been shown to be spontaneously reproducing. Most of the saplings cultivated were raised from seeds collected in the wild, at most "improved", "domesticated" by selection. The next generation were grown at most in parks, fruits of trees lining roads. However, all these are found in the herbarium. The number of new forms of Tilia described by János WAGNER is exactly 400, of these 150 are hybrids. If we look at this number, we may say with confidence that WAGNER's linden herbarium is unparalleled in the World! His contains the greatest number of taxa! The duplicate specimens are of great value for exchange! János WAGNER compiled his "Exsicate of the lindens of Hungary", of 250 different forms of Tilia

, which appeared in 5 fascicles between 1929 and 1934, This was his first study, the last one was his monograph on the lindens of Hungary, which appeared between 1940 and 1944, It was primarily L. SIMONKAI, WAGNER's highly esteemed teacher in his secondary school in Arad, who encouraged WAGNER to do research. He himself passed on this inspiration to Pál GREGUSS in the teachers' training college in Arad. The author was so fortunate as to have been set on this profession by GREGUSS, This is how a teachers' motivations come to be fulfilled through several generations! The oldest Tilia sheets of the herbarium are from 1896 from the collecting localities of Arad, Orsova, Malomviz, Gerebenc and Versée. (WAGNER's wife had come from Versec.) He did not actually purposefully collect lindens when he served as tutor in the teachers' training college in Kiskunfélegyháza. His systematical collections were obtained from the substantial linden stands of the country. Most of the speciemens, both as regards numbers and number of forms, came from Eszterháza (= Fertőd), from the famous park of the ESTERHÁZYs. This aristocratic family must have liked lindens, as there are great numbers of varieties in their park. Interestingly WAGNER did follow up this thought and had not visited other chateaux, parks, rows of trees and estates of the ESTERHÁZYs, Only in the county of Tolna there used to be roads lined by linden for 14 km between Kocsola and Dombóvár (very much thinned today), for 6 km between Szakály and Tamási (the whole row of trees was felled in the end of the 1960s for its valuable wood!), for 1 km between Tamási and Miklósvár (the area has been divided into housing plots but there is some of the tree line left), and there is a 1 km stretch between Fiirged and Ozora which is untouched even today. WAGNER had collected a lot in Budapest, in the following places: Gellért Hill, Zugliget, Sváb Hill (= Szabadság Hill), János Hill, Hármashatárhegy, Ördögorom, Remete Hill, Hárs Hill,Szemlő Hill, Vadaskert, Vérhalom, Szépilona, Fogaskerekű, Ujszentjános Hospital, Lipótmező, Horticultural Institute (University of Horticulture), Páfrány street, Apostol str, Zsámbéki str, Mátyásföld, Víziváros cemetary, Uj-Köztemető, Hunyadi square, Népliget. He repeatedly collected from several important localities: Kőszeg, Balatonfüred, Pécs, Gödöllő, Szentendre, Szeged, Királyhalom. He obtained excellent material from the following localities: Sopron, Sümeg, Zirc, Esztergom, Baja, Szentiőrinc (county of Baranya), Harkány, Harsány, WAGNER also had material from Nagykanizsa, Keszthely, Villány, Veszprém, etc. There are, however, several regions which are not represented in the collections, such as Zala, Somogy, the greatest part of the Mecsek Hills, Hegyhát, Völgység, Mezőföld, Vértes Hills, Bakony Hills, Pilis Hills and the Northern Central Mountains. His collections were in fact rather sporadically obtained, and significant geographical and plant geographical regions were left out. It is possible, however, that in the collecting localities he had visited the characteristic forms of linden occurring in a wider region are found collected in a single locality. Collecting sheets of other researchers who knew of his intentions also enriched WAGNER' s linden material. Just to mention a few names and localities: Ádám BOROS (1900-1973), Nyírbátor, Árpád DEGEN (1866-1934), Vác, Kaludjerovno, Senj, Antal EGEY (1903- ), Sárospatak, Nándor FILARSZKY (1858-1941), Borostyánkő, Gyula GAYER (1883-1932), Szombathely, Örállási-erdő, István GYÓRFFY (1880-1959), Kolozsvár, János HULJÁK (1883-1942), Abaujszin, Bükk mountains. Árpád KISS (1889-1968), Zemplén mountains, Telkibánya, Nagyhallgatő, Kovácsvágási-huta, Ferenc PILLICH (1876-1948), Simontornya, Pálfa, Rácegres, Szilas-Balhás, Kajtár, Julius (Gyula) PRODÁN (1875-1959), Zombor, Péter WIERZBICKI (1794-1847), Oravica (the only person who had been his contemporary).