Volume 24 (2012): Edizione 2011 (September 2012)

Pollen grains of 10 species of Pedicularis occurring in Ukraine were investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy. Palynological data on 6 species are reported for the first time. General pollen morphology of the genus Pedicularis is presented. Three types of apertures (2-syncolpate, 3-colpate, and 3-syncolpate) and seven subtypes of sculpture (3-syncolpate pilate, 3-syncolpate microscabrate-tubeculate, 2-syncolpate microscabrate, 2-syncolpate microscabrate-tubeculate, 2-syncolpate microscabrate-tubeculate-perforate, 2-syncolpate microfoveolate, and 2-syncolpate microscabrate-perforate) are indentified. The subgenus Pedicularis is heterogeneous in its types of apertures and sculpture of the surface, which indicates the need of further taxonomic revision of the group.

A new variety of Liparis salassia (Pers.) Summerh. from Le Réunion Island is proposed and illustrated.

During field work conducted in Colombia, a new species of the genus Specklinia Lindl., S. pereziana was found. The new species is described and illustrated. Information about its habitat and ecology is provided. Specklinia pereziana is similar to S. muricaudata, from which it differs in leaf shape and floral characters - the main differences between the species are discussed.

The detailed research of bryophyte flora, carried out in 2008-2011 on fortifications from the times of the First World War and Second World War in Grodno district, resulted in recording 101 species, of which 95 species were true mosses (Bryophyta) and 6 species were hepatics (Marchantiophyta). Because the substratum displayed certain ecological similarity with carbonate rocks, we made comparative analysis of the species list. The total of 28 rare and very rare (in Belarus scale) bryophyte species were recorded, of which 3 species were included in the Red Data Book of Belarus; 3 species had a conservation status at the European level.

In 2007, extensive botanical studies were carried out in the Gagaty Sołtykowskie Reserve (Małopolska Upland, southern Poland) to compile comprehensive flora inventories n separately for a post-mining area and the surrounding forest. The main aim of the study was to assess the influence of the surrounding vegetation on the flora of a former ceramic clay mine located in the middle of a dense forest. The results show that over 30 years after closure, the former mine is now home to several valuable and protected species of vascular plants, with the rate and direction of succession determined mainly by the surrounding vegetation. Because ruderal species have no direct access to the area, non-synanthropic, indigenous species are dominant in the Gagaty Sołtykowskie Reserve (GS).

We examined the genetic structure and diversity of eight populations of Eryngium maritimum L. (Sea Holly) along 150 km coastline of the Gulf of Gdańsk in Poland. Allozyme electrophoresis revealed two polymorphic loci among the 31 we tested. The populations showed low levels of genetic diversity (P=6.25, A=1.062, Ht=0.026), with little genetic differentiation between populations (F_ST=0.03), although it was statistically significant (p<0.001). The main directions of currents and wind indicate no significant limitations to the transport of seeds between populations in the region. Therefore, the grouping of populations that are mostly congruent with their geographic locations (except HP1) might result from the low efficacy of gene flow by seeds. The significant genetic differentiation of HP1, even from close neighboring populations, might have arisen from the founder effect and barriers to the gene flow caused by anthropogenic factors such as forestation and the construction of breakwaters.