Dendroflora of Roadside Sacral Objects in the Trzydnik Duży Commune (Lublin Voivodeship)

Abstract

Among numerous elements of the Polish landscape, especially noteworthy are the roadside sacral objects. They are a testimony to national and local identity, and express centuries-old religious values. What is more, roadside crosses and shrines, surrounded by trees and shrubs, accentuate the space with exceptional decorative and cultural value. The presence of vegetation enriches the compositional value of these objects, complements their spatial structure, and highlights the aesthetic value. This paper presents the results of a study of regarding roadside sacral objects, carried out in the Trzydnik Duży Commune, Lublin Voivodeship. The study was performed as an inventory, enabling us to determine the species composition, health condition, and age of the dendroflora accompanying the roadside sacral objects. Within the studied area 73 roadside sacral objects were inventoried. It was found that 53 of them were surrounded by trees and shrubs that represent 42 species. The most common include limes, lilacs, and white cedars. Health condition of the dendroflora is varied, however 78 % of the examined trees and shrubs are of very good or good health condition.

Small Roadside Sacral Structures in the Borzechów Commune (Lublin Region) and Their Dendroflora

“…There is an increasing popularity of using coniferous plants alongside sacral structures. Such observations were made earlier, in the areas of the Trzydnik Duży and Mełgiew Communes situated in the Lublin Voivodeship (Lubiarz and Kulesza, 2013;Kulesza et al, 2017b). Gorączkowski and Bykowska (2018) have also found that the most numerous coniferous taxon Source: own study a deciduous prostrate shrub (Fig.…”

“…It is a sign of a continuing trend of planting vegetation at sacral objects that originated at the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries (Majdecka-Strzeżek, 2003). Similarly, in the area of other communes of the Lublin Voivodeship, the most numerous deciduous species was Tilia cordata (Lubiarz and Kulesza, 2013;Kulesza et al, 2017b). However, in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, the most numerous species were Picea abies, Tilia cordata and Acer platanoides, and among the shrubs, Buxus sempervirens was the most dominant (Gorączkowski and Bykowska, 2018).…”

“…Within the area of the Borzechów Commune among the vegetation accompanying the roadside sacral structures 36 species were found, including: 8 species of deciduous trees, 9 species of coniferous trees, 16 species of deciduous shrubs, 2 species of coniferous shrubs, and 1 species of plants, the highest number of species was inventoried within the Rosaceae family -3 species from 2 genera, as well as the aforementioned garden roses which were identified only as far as their genus. Similarly, in the area of the Trzydnik Duży Commune, the most numerous genera belonged to the following families: Rosaceae, Cupressaceae and Oleaceae (Kulesza et al, 2017b).…”

“…1). It is important to note that, in comparison with other communes from Lublin Voivodeship and the rest of the country, this commune is filled with roadside sacral structures, since in the Mełgiew Commune (area of 95.64 km 2 ) there were 84 sacral structures (Lubiarz and Kulesza, 2013), in the Trzydnik Duży Commune (104.73 km 2 ) -73 structures (Kulesza et al, 2017b), and in the Nakło nad Notecią Commune (186.97 km 2 ) only 23 such structures were found (Gorączkowski and Bykowska, 2018).…”

“…), while among coniferous -Thuja sp. (Cała, 2007;Pudelska, 2011;Lubiarz and Kulesza, 2013;Kulesza et al, 2017b). Despite the fact that roadside sacral structures are increasingly becoming the subject of interest of many fields of study, there still are not enough studies dedicated to the vegetation that surrounds them.…”