B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 32. 2001 (Budapest, 2001)

Hably, Lilla; Zastawniak, E.: Distribution, taphonomy and palaeoecology of Ulmus L. in the Hungarian Egerian

Ulmus cf. minuta Goepp. (= U. plurinervia Ung.), an accessory element in the floras of Pomáz and Vértesszőlős, could be a riparian rather than a swamp element, because at both localities highland vegetation is more in evidence than swamp vegetation. THE OCCURRENCE OF FOSSIL ULMUS L. IN OTHER TERTIARY LAYERS OF HUNGARY The oldest appearance of Ulmus L. in Hungary can be dated to the Egerian age as leaves or fruits of elm have not been confirmed in earlier sediments. From the younger, Eggenburgian layers Ulmus pyramidalis Goepp. has been recorded from sandstone (Zagyvapálfalva Sandstone Formation) in the Ipolytarnóc locality (HABLY 1985/?). This sandstone is the underlayer of the Gyulakeszi Riolittuff Formation, which bears a rich macroflora, but lacking Ulmus L. In the younger Miocene floras several species of elm are known (HABLY 1985a), but only one of the above-mentioned. Ulmus cf. minuta Goepp. (= U. plurinervia Ung.), occurred in the younger Neogene. In the rich flora of Magyaregregy, dated to the Middle Miocene, several elm fruits was collected by HABLY (unpubl.), but leaves are as yet unknown. Younger, Sarmatian floras usually contain small-leaved elms which have been determined as Ulmus plurinervia, U. minuta, or U. braunii (HABLY 1985a, ERDEI 1995). At most of the localities they are an accessory element. The genus occurs in the Hungarian Tertiary in great quantity at Gérce and Pula where it is dated to the Pliocene (FISCHER and HABLY 1991, KVACEK et al. 1994, HABLY and KVACEK 1997). The elm, which is a dominant element in this flora, is a small-leaved form, namely Ulmus braunii Heer, which was also important in some Sarmatian floras, for instance at Erdőbénye (KOVÁTS 1856, ANDREÁNSZKY 1959, ERDEI 1995). It seems that the species of elm which were dominant in the Egerian of Hungary did not survive into the younger Miocene floras. Their latest occurrence can be dated to the lower Miocene in this area. Acknowledgements - The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to the Management of the Mátra Museum for the loan of materials used in the present study. We would like to extend our appreciation to Mr Arthur Copping for linguistic verification of the English text. This work was done in the frame of the Polish-Hungarian cooperation supported by the Hungarian and Polish Academics of Sciences. The Hungarian study was also supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKAT 029041).