L. Hably szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 21. 1989 (Budapest, 1989)

Mészáros, Sándor: Comparison and relations of the Hungarian and the Mongolian flora

to occur in Hungary only in relict spots of the cold-continental forestal steppe, but the rest of the species are known to occur equally (or exclusively) in temperate woodlands where they might have got as secondary elements. Species of the karstic groves include Spirea media and Cotoneaster niger, while the species Carex tomentosa, Rosa spinosissima, Thalictrum minus and Veratum nigrum are species of the dry oak forests. The other group comprises species of the grassy steppe („puszta"), Festucion rupicolae: Agropyron pectinatum, Erysimum diffusum, Ceratoides latens, Nonea pulla, as well as Orobanche caesia and O. coerulescens, parasites on wormwood species, Scabiosa ochroleuca, Sisymbrium potymorphum, Veronica incana, Viola collina. We can refer to this group the species Allium montanum and Scorzonera austriaca as well, occurring mainly on rocky grasslands and finally, Euphrasia tatarica. In Mongolia, however, some of these species are known to occur in different associations: Ceratoides latens and Scorzonera austriaca in open semi-arid association, whereas Allium montanum on cold-continental forestal steppes. Several characteristic species of the Hungarian sodic puszta (Pucxnnellio-Salicornea) agree with those of Mongolia. In the first place, let us mention two species of the Gramineae, Festuca pseudovina and Puce me Ilia distans, but the rest of the species in common are also interesting: Acorellus pannonicus, Chenopodium botryodes, Kochia prostrata, Lepidium crassifolium, Limonium gmelini, Melandrium viscoswn* Melilotus dentatus*, Rumexpseudonatronatus and R. stenophyllus, Suaeda maritima, Taraxacum bessarabicum A part of these species, however, can be considered as steppean relict species like Kochia prostrata and Melandrium viscosum, which can be found outside the sodic vegetations in Mongolia as well. As the fourth group, we can mention some characteristic species of the sandy puszta like Carex ericetorum, Gypsophila paniculata, Helichrysum arenarium, Iris humilis ssp. arenaria, Koeleria glauca, Silène borysthenic a and Stipa joannis. Finally, some of the species in common occur at humid habitats like Astragalus sulcatus (the only species in common from the genus Astragalus), Cuscuta lupuliformis, a parasite of willows and poplars, the species Thalictrum simplex as well as Typha minima. Some adventive floristical elements of Continental origin were added also to our weed vegetation like Artemisia annua, Geranium sibiricum, Kochia scoparia, Orobanche cernua ssp. cumana, Rumex patientia, Trigonella coerulea, Lappula patula. On the actual migration process of these floristical elements to Hungary, previous Hungarian botanical literature supposed an immigration during the Postglacial, notably, Boreal period with warm and dry climate when the Hungarian Mid-Mountains were populated by hazelnut groves and dry oak forests and the loessy and sandy lowland regions of the Great Hungarian Plains were covered by steppe. SOÓ (1964-1980) dated the immigration of Continental elements to four phases; Late Glacial, Boreal (hazelnut-period), Atlantic (oak-period) and Historical Period (see pp. 60 and 90 in Vol. I.) On the basis of the parynokjgical investigations of JÁRAI-KOMLÓDI (1966), the occurrence of the Chenopodiaceae (Chenopodium, Kochia, Ceratoides) and the abundant occurrence of Artemisia species, as well as the presence of the genera Rumex and Polygonum can already be proved at the Great Hungarian Plain during the Würm Glaciation. On the other hand, opposed to the loessy pusztas already existing during the Würm glaciation, the emergence, or rather, extension of sandy puszta meadows and sodic puszta vegetation can be postulated for the Boreal phase only. * These are species which are known to occur on sodic soil and they are also fairly resistant to salinity