L. Lőkös szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 26. 1995 (Budapest, 1995)

Penksza, Károly: Flora of the Fehér-szirt and its surroundings near Kesztölc, Hungary

tion of the Kisalföld. The "embayment" South of Esztergom was named as "the vicinity of Esztergom" by ZÓLYOMI (1958). SIMON (1962) published an overview on the natural vegetation of the Kisalföld. The monography of the swamp meadows by KOVÁCS (1962) contains information on the region, too. Works involving larger geographical units also contain some information to the studied area (SIMON et al. 1980, JAKUCS and FEKETE 1987). The vegetation of the Kétágú-hegy and the Csévi-szirtèk were compared by SZERDAHELYI (1988, 1989). The vegetation map of Kétágú-hegy and its surroundings were completed by PENKSZA etal. (1994). Taxonomic investigations on Festuca species of the area was carried out by CSÁNYI-KOVÁCS and HORÁNSZKY (1973). The soil properties and their interrelation with the vegetation of the region were studied by KOVÁCSNÉ LÁNG (1966), LÁNG (1971), while microclimatic measurements were carried out by DRASKOVITS and KOVÁCS-LÁNG (1968). MATERIALS AND METHODS The studied area has a diverse habitat structure including a forest site East of the Fehér-szirt and a sandy area lying North and Northwest of the cliff (Fig. 1). Additionally there is a swamp meadow in the vicinity of the village Kesztöíc, which was also investigated. The Fehér-szirt (424 m) is the lower, western part of the Kétágú-hegy. It was asymmetrically piled up, so the northeastern slope is almost parallel with the geological layers (BULLA 1962). In the Kesztöíc region the lower, looser Oligocène sand and sandstone (covered by loess) sections are common. The Triassic limestone parts of the Kétágú-hegy were uplifted from this rock. The foothill is covered by Pleistocene colluvial deposit. Annual mean temperature of the Pilis Mts is 8.5-9.0 °C, but the western rocky slope of the Fehér-szirt shows significantly higher values (DRASKOVITS and KOVÁCS-LÁNG 1968). Annual precipitation is 600-700 mm on the average and it has two maximum values: in late spring and November (BULLA 1962). Soil formation is strongly influenced by the bed-rock. Consequently on the steep rocky limestone slopes Rendzina Leptosols and Lithic Leptosols have developed. On the loess-covered eastern slopes of the Fehér-szirt Haplic Cambisols have developed. Climatic, various géomorphologie and soil characters of the region enhanced the formation of numerous vegetation types like marshlands, sand grass-