Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 96. (Budapest 2004)

Kováts, D.: Some differences in morphological structure of the vegetative parts (herbage) of Sesleria heufleriana Schur and Sesleria hungarica Ujhelyi (Poaceae)

ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Volume 96 Budapest, 2004 pp. 51-62. Some differences in morphological structure of the vegetative parts (herbage) of Sesleria heufleriana Schur and Sesleria hungarica Újhelyi (Poaceae) D. KOVATS Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum H1087 Budapest, Könyves Kálmán krt. 40. Hungary E-mail: dezso@bot.nhmus.hu Abstract - Comparative morphological measurements were carried out on the culms and leaves of Sesleria heufleriana SCHUR and Sesleria hungarica ÚJHELYI. On the basis of observations and measurements it can be stated that differences occur in numbers and length values of internodes. The length dimension (ratio) of leaf blades and leaf sheets changes on another level of the culms in Sesleria heufleriana as in Sesleria hungarica. The investigations were carried out on plants collected from original habitats and on those planted in an experimental garden. With 5 figures and 4 tables. Key words - Sesleria heufleriana, Sesleria hungarica. INTRODUCTION FERDINAND SCHUR (1799-1878) - who had a hard life as a pharmacist, chemist and botanist - during his botanical round trip in Transylvania between 5th luly and 15th August in 1853 discovered a lot of new taxa, among them a new species of Sesleria, and described it as Sesleria heufleriana SCHUR (SCHUR 1853). Another outstanding botanist, taxonomist in Hungary several decades later was JÓZSEF ÚJHELYI (1910-1979), who had always been a paternal friend to this author. He was the best specialist of the European species of Koeleria, Sesleria, Achillea, and Lotus. ÚJHELYI described Sesleria hungarica ÚJHELYI as a new species of Poaceae (ÚJHELYI 1959). These two Sesleria are closely related taxa. According to ÚJHELYI, S. hungarica is octoploid 2n=56 and a much more robust plant than the tetraploid 2n=28 S. heufleriana SCHUR (ÚJHELYI 1959). In this paper the author sketches out the morphological structure of the vegetative parts of culms, makes comparision with culms, internodes, leaf blades, leaf sheaths, the measures of lengths, and their ratios. The author tries to find more morphological differences between these two closely related taxa, because most of the scientific literature does not accept S. hungarica as an independent species.