Relics of cultivation in the vascular flora of medieval West Slavic settlements and castlesThis monograph presents results of research on relics of cultivation and the present vascular flora of sites of medieval fortified settlements and castles in Central Europe. Special attention was paid to 109 West Slavic sites located in Poland, northeastern Germany, and the Czech Republic. For comparison, floristic data were collected also at 21 sites of medieval settlements and castles of Baltic tribes, East Slavs, and Teutonic knights. Results of this study confirm the hypothesis that remnants of medieval fortified settlements and castles are valuable habitat islands in the agricultural landscape, and are refuges of the plants that have accompanied West Slavs since the Middle Ages. At the 109 West Slavic archaeological sites, 876 vascular plant species were recorded. The present flora of the study sites is highly specific, clearly distinct from the surrounding natural environment, as shown by results of analyses of taxonomic composition, geographical-historical and synecological groups, indices of anthropogenic changes of the flora, and degrees of hemeroby (i.e. human influence) at the studied habitats. The sites of fortified settlements and castles are centres of concentration and sources of dispersal of alien species. Aliens account for nearly 21% of the vascular flora of the study sites. Among them, a major role is played by archaeophytes (101 species). Some archaeological sites are characterized by a high contribution of so-called species of old deciduous forests (98 species). Despite many features in common, floras of archaeological sites vary significantly, depending on their geographical location, size, typology, and chronology of their origin. Historical sites occupied in the past by West Slavs differ in the current vascular flora from the sites occupied in the Middle Ages by East Slavs or Baltic tribes and from Teutonic castles. West Slavic archaeological sites are primarily refuges for 22 relics of cultivation. Considering the time of cultivation, 3 groups of relics were distinguished: (i) relics of medieval cultivation (plants cultivated till the late 15thcentury); (ii) relics of cultivation in the modern era (introduced into cultivation in the 16thcentury or later), and (iii) relics of medieval-modern cultivation. These species play a special role in research on the history of the flora of Central Europe and thus also of the world flora. Thus the best-preserved sites of medieval West Slavic settlements and castles should be protected as our both cultural and natural heritage. This work is a key contribution to geobotanical research on transformation of the vegetation associated with human activity. Considering the problem of relics of cultivation it corresponds also to basic ethnobotanical issues.
Genetic relationships between some ofMalvaspecies as determined with ISSR and ISJ markersTwo categories of DNA markers were used to determine genetic relationships among eightMalvataxa. A maximum parsimony analysis validated the division of the genusMalvainto the sectionsBismalvaandMalva.The species classified into those sections formed separate clusters.M. moschatawas a distinctive species in the sectionBismalva, as confirmed by previous genetic research based on ITS and cpDNA sequence analyses. The applied markers revealed a very high level of genetic identity betweenM. alcea and M. excisaand enabled molecular identification ofM. alceavar.fastigiata.Speciesspecific markers were determined for the majority of the analyzed species, permitting their molecular identification. A specific marker supporting the differentiation ofM. alceaandM. excisawas not found.
The list of alien vascular plant species only temporarily occurring in Wielkopolska refers to the previously published list of native and permanently established plants. Together, these two lists document the vascular flora of this region at the beginning of the 21st century. The current list, like the previous one, is a result of critical analysis of both contemporary and historical data, collected since the beginning of the 19th century. All information accessible in herbarium collections, publications and unpublished materials was used. A critical analysis was conducted at the taxonomic, nomenclatural, chorological and habitat levels, based on the verification of negative information not supported by sufficient arguments. The list is presented in an alphabetical order. Information on each species includes: family affinity, life form, geographic and historic status. In cases particularly disputable, the standard characteristic of a species was supplemented with an additional commentary.
Diploid Anthoxanthum odoratum and tetraploid A. aristatum were compared with respect to stomatal guard cell lengths, and stomatal density at adaxial and abaxial surfaces of the lamina. Further, the genome size of both species was determined by flow cytometry, and the number as well as the chromosomal distribution of 5S and 45S rDNAs were examined using FISH with ribosomal DNA (rDNA) probes. The average length of stomatal guard cells in A. odoratum was shown to be greater than that for A. aristatum, but the ranges overlapped. Moreover, reduction in stomatal frequency was found at higher ploidy levels.The genome size was 6.863 pg/2C DNA for A. aristatum and 13.252 pg/2C DNA for A. odoratum. A. aristatum has four sites of 5S rDNA in its root-tip meristematic cells, whereas A. odoratum has six. Both species have six sites of 45S rDNA. Chromosomal localization of the rDNA varied, which suggests that chromosome rearrangements took place during Anthoxanthum genome evolution.
Eight Hypericum species are native to Poland: H. elegans Stephan ex Willd., H. hirsutum L., H. humifusum L., H. maculatum Crantz, H. montanum L., H. perforatum L., H. pulchrum L., and H. tetrapterum Fr. Only seeds of H. elegans were investigated in detail in Poland before, so here we present results of qualitative and quantitative analyses of seed morphology of the other 7 species, based on characters like seed length, width, and shape, seed coat sculpture, shape of epidermal cells of the testa, and number of epidermal cells along the seed axis. The results show that seeds of the studied species are small, 0.56-1.15 mm long and 0.26-0.49 mm wide. In SEM images, seed coat sculpture is reticulate in 5 species, papillate in H. hirsutum, and cup-shaped in H. pulchrum. The differences are caused by the varied final development of the testa epidermis, which constitutes the outer layer of the seed coat. The mean number of epidermal cells along the seed axis ranges from 22 to 33. Results of cluster analysis, based on the agglomeration method and including also published data on seeds of H. elegans, show that the variation in the investigated characters of seeds is reflected in the taxonomic division of the genus into sections.
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