B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 32. 2001 (Budapest, 2001)
Bauer, Norbert: Vascular flora of the hill Strázsa-hegy and its vicinity (Pilis Mts, Hungary)
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF THE AREA Strázsa and Tábla-hegy are located between Dorog and Esztergom, east of Esztergomkertváros. Geographically, from the westernmost members of the Pilis Mts - Fekete and Kétágú-hegy, stretching above Kesztölc - Strázsa and Tábla-hegy are segregated like an island. With their relatively small cones, separated from the Kétágú-hegy-Öreg Szirt-Fehér Szirt-Lencse-hegy range, stretching above Kesztölc, Strázsa-hegy (307 m) (= Nagy-Strázsa-hegy) and Kis-Strázsa-hegy (233 m) are the westernmost members of the mountain range of the Pilis Mts. These western blocks (which are still in the process of rising) are less exhumed, therefore, their surface shows several Tertiary sediments, and in some places sand and loess, respectively. The main mass of bedrock is Triassic limestone. Tábla-hegy (299 m), built from andésite, andésite tuff and dacite, differs from most blocks of the western Pilis Mts. The origin of this hill may be connected tectonically to the more active (volcanic) period of the Pilis Mts. Young sediments - mainly loess - of the surrounding areas cover the slopes approaching the top, while bare andésite cliff surfaces can only be found sparsely and in very small extent. In close proximity of Strázsa and Tábla-hegy larger sandhillocks are found. Ancient rock (Eocene nummulitic limestone) breaks through the surface only at 210 m elevation located north of Strázsa-hegy. Southward of the hills, this group of smaller hills is less divided and it approaches the almost plain are a called Sátorkőpuszta, therefore it is referred in this paper as Sátorkőpuszta sandhills later on. From a landscape geographical point of view, basically the Pilis Mts and the Dorog Basin meet the Little Hungarian Plain here. West and northwest of Kis-Strázsa-hegy the eastern end of the Komárom-Esztergom Plain (the onetime Esztergom Bay) borders the area. Total surface of the area studied in detail is somewhat larger than 2.5 km 2 . The vicinity of Strázsa-hegy is a lower marginal area of the Pilis Mts, having a moderately warm-dry and mild winter climate. The steep northeastern, rocky slope of the highest point - a cliffof the Nagy-Strázsa-hegy, which rises over 300 m, is microclimatically a cool, very windy location. The mean annual temperature of the area is 9-10 °C. The average annual precipitation at the Dorog measurement station is 600 mm. Relative frequencies of wind directions reflect the wind tunnel character (due to the northwestern and southeastern openness) and the basin feature at the same time. Most frequent wind directions are: northwestern (20%) and southeastern (12%), but calm periods are also frequent (21%). Regarding its climate, the area is intermediate between the Pilis Mts and the Little Hungarian Plain. Data are available from the nearest measuring sites (Esztergom 106 m, Esztergom Vaskapu 406 m) and the Walter climatic diagram are given by BORHIDI (1961). According to these the area is dry, and the second maximum of precipitation does not occur at all. This is important because in the surrounding mountains (like in Gerecse) it does appear. Beside the heterogeneity of bedrock, concentration of the macroclimate lines characteristic at the margins of the hills may have significant effect on the development of the diverse vegetation in the area. The Strázsa-hegy and its surroundings fall into the CT 39 unit of the UTM mapping system.
