B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 35. 2004 (Budapest, 2004)

Szollát, György; Schmotzer, András: Contributions to the flora and vegetation of the environs of Balassagyarmat (Hungary)

Some species penetrating from the adjoining stands of Robinia pseudo-acacia include Chelidonium majus, Anthriscus cerefolium subsp. trichosperma, Chaerophyllum temulum, Urtica dioica indicating a certain level of degradation, as none of them exist here in larger masses. However, the alien Acer negundo is rather frequent. Site No. 8 Elevation: 160-170 m. The very narrow and deep, ditch-like valley bordered with quite steep hillsides - an earlier arm of the Nyirjes stream - is almost dry recently. The valley is surrounded by holiday resorts from both sides, so the area suffers from great environmental stress which revealed by the high level of degradation. Problem sources include depositing garbage, walking across the vegetation, planting ornamental flowers, etc. The plant community is a very strongly degraded ash-alder woodland, where some of the species typical for the community are still present (e.g. Carex remota, C. acutiformis, Cardamine amara, Caltha palustris). Site No. 9 Elevation: 145-170 m. The brooklet - the northernmost arm of the Nyirjes stream - flows in a gentle downslope of a relatively broad valley. Rooting in waterlogged soil, the stream ash-alder wood (Aegopodio-Alnetum) of almost natural state occupies the deposited, flat bottom of the valley in a 10 m wide strip showing transitional features toward the alder swamp woodland (Angelico sylvestris-Alnetum glutinosae Borhidi in Borhidi and Kevey 1996) certainly because of the wide spreading, slowly moving water. Besides Alnus glutinosa, which dominates the tree layer Fraxinus excelsior, F. angustifolia subsp. pannonica and Acer pseudoplatanus occur sporadically. In the shrub layer Viburnum opulus, Sambucus nigra and the protected Ribes nigrum (50-100 specimens) are the most typical, Ribes rubrum and Padus avium are sporadical, while Rubus idaeus, Cornus sanguined, and Euonymus europaeus occur at the edges. Along the streamsides, the herb layer is dominated by Carex acutiformis and Cardamine amara. Caltha palustris, Valeriana dioica, Cirsium oleraceum, Carex remota, Filipendula ulmaria are also frequent in this habitat. The majority of the protected Dryopteris carthusiana (100-200 individuals) grows at the less waterlogged edges of the site. The Fagetalia species, such as Athyrium fdix-femina, Galeobdolon luteum, Circaea lutetiana are only represented by relatively few specimens.