Vízügyi Közlemények, 1936 (18. évfolyam)

Kivonatok, mellékletek - Kivonat a 4. számhoz

I. THE VEGETATION OF ALKALI LANDS IN HUNGARY. By A. FAY. (In the Hungarian text pages 437—466.) On the Hungarian Great Plains there are about 358,110 hectares of alkali lands, where in the stratum at or near the surface different salts of sodium, or colloidal substances saturated with sodium, are accumulated. Sodium salts, especially carbonate and chloride, and to a smaller extent also sulphate, exert even at a low concentration a harmful influence on the growth of plants. Under the dry climate of the Great Plains, in those alkali soils where the salt content in not high, but the absorption complex is saturated with sodium, the water binding capacity of the sodium injuriously affects the struggle of plants against dryness. In soils containing large quantities of salts or soda only halophyta plants are to be found ; while in soils which contain little alkali, but are somewhat saturated with absorbed sodium, the xerophyta plants prevail. These have a short period of growth limited to the wet season, and possess strong roots of great suction force ; they are able to defend themselves against intensive transpiration. Where the mould is shallow and barren, the plants called ruderal are present. In the flora of Hungary there are about 40 to 50 real halophytae, the presence of which indicates without any chemical examination the salt content of the accumulation stratum and its proximity to the surface. The higher the alkali content of a stratum, and the nearer it is to the surface, the more exclusively are wild plants to be found, which are capable of enduring these special conditions and the high concentration of salts. Tables I and II indicate the most important halophytae in the Hungarian flora, which definitely indicate salty or alkali soil. Of these the following are especially worthy of mention : Camphorosma ovata (Table I. No. 18), Suaeda maritima (I. 20), Chenopodium crassifolium (I. 15), Atriplex hastata (I. 17), Spergularia marginata (II. 25), Lepidium cartilagineum (II. 29), Statice Gmelini (II. 35), Plantago tenuiflora (II. 36), Plantago maritima (II. 37), Aster pannonicus (II. 40), Achillea asplenifolia (II. 41), Artemisia salina or monogyna (II. 43), Cry si s aculeata (I. 1), Hordeum Gussoneanum (I. 8), Bolboschoenus maritimus (1.

11). Among the halophytae of the Great Plains there are two useful species of poas. One is the Atropis limosa which, when properly tilled and manured, has yielded fairly abundant hay of good quality (14.33% raw protein, 8.2% digestible pure protein and 29 to 30% starch value) in the sandy alkali soils of the district