Evaluation of the natural geophyte taxa of Sarıyer and their use in urban landscape

Abstract

Within approximately 5461 km 2 area and 16 million population, Istanbul is considered to be the most important and most crowded city of Turkey. In addition to its unique beauties, it attracts the attention of nature lovers and plant scientists especially with its rich variety of plants which is more than many other countries in the world. 7,2 % of this floristic richness is composed of "geophytes"; which are the plants with bulbous, tuberosus, corm or rhizomous root systems. Sarıyer district, which is located in the north side of Istanbul and being an important part of the city's floristic richness has been chosen as the study area. The floristic diversity of the district is mostly because of the biodiversity of natural forest called Belgrad Forest. In this study, investigating the geophytes of the Sarıyer district, one of the greenest districts of Istanbul, evaluating their aesthetic properties and examining the possibilities of their use in landscape designs is aimed. For this purpose, plant features and design characteristics, habitats and endangerment categories of Sarıyer geophytes have been studied in detail using various sources. As a result of this study; it is found that there has been 44 native genus and 98 exotic geophyte taxa belonging to 12 families. 27,27 % of the genera are belong to Orchidaceae family and it is followed by Amaryllidaceae family with 18,18 %. Also the geophytes in the study are mostly having tuberous root type with 38,78%. When the habitats of these taxa has been evaluated; forest, forest edge areas and shrubs has been found to be the highest rate of 19,85% and 19,73%. When we evaluate the geophyte taxa of Sarıyer in case of their use in landscape designs, their flower colors, flowering periods and textures has become important. In Sarıyer district mostly white and yellow flowering geophyte taxa has been found with 21,43% and 20,41% ratio. It is also seen that most of the geophyte taxa are flowering in March with 23,96% and most of them are 3 months flowering. Also most of them are found to be fine textured with 59,18%.

Compatibility and Possibility of New Ornamental Geophytes for Their Utilization in Landscape Architecture

“…Additionally, landscapes play a pivotal role in infusing vitality into urban environments [1]. However, challenges posed by climatic conditions and unsustainable resource utilization, particularly water, have compelled city managers to incorporate ornamental geophytes in landscape design [1,2]. As cities rapidly expand, urban landscapes become increasingly essential for the emotional well-being of residents [3].…”