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)

FORMER SURVEYS IN THE REGION It was back in 1955 when Imre Máthé (MÁTHÉ 1956) in his inaugural lecture at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences said that "the Neogradense flora district is still lacking an intense and systematic botanical exploration". His statement holds true even today. Looking at the surroundings of Balassagyarmat from floristical point of view, they have been even less researched than some of the greater areas of the flora district, such as the Börzsöny, the Cserhát and the Gödöllői-dombság. The developments of the past 50(—

100) years brought serious losses in the (semi)natural landscape of the above-mentioned region, as in the whole country, and there has been growing demand for a survey of the present state of the flora and vegetation. It was thus clear that on judging the "potential" or "original" vegetation one can only rely on guesses based on early data like those of Borbás, who - about a hundred years ago - was collecting plants nearby Litke in swamps and mires, or relevés of MÁTHÉ and KOVÁCS (see below) who sampled sedge communities which might not be there today. Early floristical data concerning the Neogradense flora district include János Kunszt'

s enumeration (KUNSZT 1878) mainly from the environs of Losonc (present name in Slovakia is "Lucenec"). Data from Vince Borbás (BORBÁS 1876, 1877, 1878) are restricted to the vicinity of Ipoly-Litke (today: Litke) with a few exceptions only. Ádám Boros, who 60 years ago visited the alder swamp woodlands near Ipoly szög, recorded 28 specimens (BOROS 1944). In his geobotanical review Zoltán Kárpáti mentions two species occurring most likely in the surveyed area (Ranunculus flammula in the riparian galleries along Ipoly river e.g. at Ipolyszög and Acorus calamus in the ponds near Ipoly szög) (KÁRPÁTI 1952). In the two papers of Margit Kovács and Szaniszló Priszter providing floristical data (KOVÁCS and PRISZTER 1956, 1957), there are 9 species occurring in the area (indicated locality names are Balassagyarmat and Ipolyszög). Researches carried out in the area by Imre Máthé and Margit Kovács are of synbotanical nature. The data of Máthé'

s two relevés (MÁTHÉ 1956), sampled in Caricetum gracilis stands and Festucetum pratensis associations, designated with the locality name "Balassagyarmat" are mingled among others and as being part of the integrated data matrix they are not recoverable today. One of Máthé'

s relevés, made certainly in the area in concern, appears in Kovács'

s study (KOVÁCS 1957) but the species with constancy No. "I" are mixed with the similar ones so they are also lost for any subsequent floristical comparison. The greatest number of floristical data (250 taxa) are found in a paper by KOVÁCS and MÁTHÉ (1967) which discusses the vegetation of the flood plains of the Ipoly river. With high probability, and in some cases certainly, the sites of their relevés made in 11 associations, des-