B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 38. 2007 (Budapest, 2007)

Barina, Zoltán: Pál Kitaibel was born 250 years ago. (3 February 1757, Nagymarton - 13 December 1817, Pest)

done by MOESZ (1923). The elaboration of the vascular plants (14,702 sheets) together with the revision of the national collections was carried out by JÁVORKA (1926, 1929, 1934, 1935, 1936). The lichens of the Kitaibel collection were processed as well as published by TlMKÓ (1943) and SZEPESFALVY (1943b), and the mosses by SZEPESFALVY (1943a). Types of the flowering plants of the Kitaibel herbarium were designated and published by KOVÁTS (1992, 1997), the revision of the Cytisus names and specimens was undertaken by PIFKÓ (2007). Kitaibel's travel diaries contain a valuable set of local (vernacular) names: of these GOMBOCZ ( 1938) showed approximately 220 items, subsequently extended by PRISZTER (1984) with 160 additional names. Unquestionably, the second principal part of Kitaibel's life-work is the "Icones" (GÉCZI 2003), with the full title "Descriptiones et icones plant arum rariorum Hungáriáé", published together with Waldstein in three volumes (1802, 1805, 1812). The first volume came out in 1802 containing an introduction, and providing a comprehensive description of the natural history of Hungary. Following this, it illustrates on 100 colour plates 100 plants native to the Great Hungarian Plain, the Hungarian Mountain Ranges as well as to Bánát and Máramaros. The second volume, issued in 1805, in its introduction describes the natural history of Croatia and on 100 plates it illustrates another 100 plants from this area. The third volume, published in 1812, contains the description of another 80 plants, only a small part of the material left unpublished in the former volumes. Thus, the series - despite of all the efforts - remained incomplete at the end. It has been regarded, however, such a landmark work that it was re-issued as reprint by the Pytheas Publisher in 2004 (WALDSTEIN and KITAIBEL 2004). The "revised" species list of the altogether 280 taxa described in the three volumes was published by HORTOBÁGYI (1994, 1997). Special merits of the 3-volume "Icones" include the unique way they illustrate previously unknown species, not only those discovered by Kitaibel, but also of other authors. The detailed characterisation, which combines art and science, was a meaningful and lavish contribution to that-time botany when it was customary to describe plants with telegraphic conciseness and minor, if any, illustrations. Only a certain part of the descriptions of the species discovered by Kitaibel and Waldstein appeared in the "Icones". At the beginning Kitaibel included the species discovered by himself in the seed-exchange catalogues