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Contribuţii Botanice – 2014, XLIX: 39-42
Grădina Botanică “Alexandru Borza”
Cluj-Napoca
LOST AND FOUND: REDISCOVERY OF SAUSSUREA PORCII DEGEN IN
THE RODNEI MOUNTAINS (EASTERN CARPATHIANS, ROMANIA)
AFTER MORE THAN A CENTURY
Attila MÁTIS1, Anna SZABÓ2, László BARTHA3
1 Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR), 19 Crișan Street, 400370 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2 “Apáthy István” Society, 49 Baia Mare Street, 400171 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
3 Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Bio-Nano-Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University
42 A. Treboniu Laurean Street, 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
e-mail: matisattila@gmail.com
Abstract: The present floristic note reports the rediscovery of Saussurea porcii Degen in the Rodnei Mts,
at a new site for the species located in the headwaters area of the Rebra river. This new site, therefore, currently
represents the only known occurrence of the species in Romania as it is probably extinct at its locus classicus. The
number of individuals found is extremely low, which makes the population of particular conservation concern.
Keywords: Carpathian endemic, conservation, floristics, rare species, wet habitat.
Introduction
The Red List of Vascular Plants of Romania [4] includes a couple of species of which
their presence in the flora of the country has not been confirmed for at least a century. Possible
causes hindering the attainment of such floristic targets include the disappearance of the species
due to ongoing climate change or through zoo-anthropogenic or anthropogenic impacts on the
species’ habitats. Another cause may be the relatively lower interest in floristic research as
compared with the second part of 19th or first part of 20th centuries when this research interest
flourished. Despite these factors, remarkable floristic discoveries still happen in Romania, as
with the rediscovery of Ranunculus glacialis L. in the Eastern and Southern Carpathians [7, 8].
Saussurea porcii Degen (Asteraceae) is a narrow endemic of the Eastern Carpathians and
has been regarded as a ‘mythical’ species in the flora of Romania because living specimens were
not seen on the territory of the present-day Romania for more than a century. The species was
discovered by the botanist Florian Porcius at the eastern side of Mt. Corongiș (Rodnei (Rodna)
Mts.) in 1856. Initially the plant was identified as S. serrata DC., a species distributed in Siberia.
Notes of the botanist Antal Czetz on his herbarium sheet of S. porcii (CL 42434) provide a
glimpse into the ‘conservation status’ of the species from the mid-19th century. He considered
the plant ‘very rare’ and saw it on Mt. Corongiș on 10 August 1858, in a wet meadow habitat and
only within a small area with difficult access. Shoots of the plants, however, were grazed and
trampled by cattle and he (Czetz) found then no specimens with flowers. He excavated a shoot
with roots and re-planted it in his garden, from where the aforementioned herbarium specimen
originated. The species was also cultivated by F. Porcius. He and Czetz were friends and
frequently collected plants together. Specimens from Porcius’s garden cultivation also are
deposited in the Herbarium of the A. Borza Botanical Garden.
40 A. MÁTIS, A. SZABÓ, L. BARTHA
Saussurea porcii was described as a species new to science late, in 1904, by Árpád
Degen and dedicated to its discoverer [3].
In the 1920s additional populations of S. porcii were discovered in the Ukrainian
Carpathians in the Chyvchyny and Chornohora massifs ([5], and references therein). Recently,
Kobiv et al. (2007) [5] assessed the distribution of species within the Ukrainian Carpathians and
also reported new occurrences of the plant within the Svydovets massif. The distribution of the
species in Ukraine is presented in Fig. 1, based on the compilation of Kobiv et al. (2007) [5].
Most information about habitat requirements of S. porcii could be learnt on the basis of
its distribution in Ukraine, where the species still has stable populations. Saussurea porcii grows
there at altitudes of 1295–1560 m a.s.l. and is confined to hygrophytic to hygromesophytic
vegetation of calciferous habitats including peat bogs (with calciferous influence), mown fen
meadows and edges of streams ([5], and references therein).
Saussurea porcii has been widely regarded as ‘probably extinct’ in Romania (at least at
the locus classicus of the species) [6, 5, 4] because repeated endeavours to find the species in the
surroundings of Mt. Corongiș failed (G. Coldea, A.S. Bădărău, pers. comm.). A second site for
the species in Romania (a locality named ‘Lanul Cercănel’ close to the city of Borșa in the
Maramureșului Mts.) was erroneously reported by Coman (1941) [1] based on a misidentified
specimen of Crepis biennis L. [2] confirmed by E.I. Nyárádi. Saussurea porcii is included in the
Red Data Book of Ukraine [9] and in The Red List of Vascular Plants of Romania [4].
Results and Discussion
After more than a century, S. porcii was rediscovered by the authors in Romania, on 19
August 2014, during a several day field trip throughout the Rodnei Mts. while surveying spring
mires. Some 12 shoots were found on a surface of 1m2 very close to a rapid-flowing river stream.
Due to the clonal growth habit of the species, these 12 shoots could be considered ramets
belonging to two genets. Only three of the shoots were fertile, where the number of capitula was
8–14. The fertile shoots were found after anthesis, and already forming cypselae in the capitula.
The shoots had a height of 10–30 cm. The location is situated at 1796 m a.s.l. and lies within the
headwaters area of the Rebra river. Thus, it is relatively far from the locus classicus of the
species (Fig. 1). A voucher specimen (CL 664545) of the species collected at this new site was
deposited in the Herbarium of the A. Borza Botanical Garden, as well as photos taken of the
specimens (Fig. 2).
The location has a southern-southeastern exposure and a slope of 50–60°. Although such
a slope can be considered relatively steep, this was not the main factor in protecting the species
and assuring its survival in an environment over-grazed by sheep. The authors consider that
dwarf pine (Pinus mugo Turra) and the Siberian juniper (Juniperus sibirica Burgsdorf.) bushes
growing nearby and surrounding the S. porcii specimens apparently had a protective effect on the
species while blocking grazing animals.
According to the Natura 2000 classification, the site belongs to the ‘Petrifying springs
with tufa formations (Cratoneurion) priority natural habitat’ (code *7220). It has a Doronico
carpatici – Saxifragetum aizoidis Coldea (1986) 1990 association, where the following species
could be recorded (with corresponding grades of abundance on the Braun-Blanquet scale):
Saxifraga aizoides L. — 2, Carex lepidocarpa Tausch — 1, Pinguicula vulgaris L. — +,
Silene pusilla Waldst. & Kit. — +, Parnassia palustris L. — +, Swertia perennis L. — 1, Carex
LOST AND FOUND: REDISCOVERY OF SAUSSUREA PORCII DEGEN IN THE RODNEI… 41
sempervirens Vill. — 1, Saussurea porcii Degen — 1, Bartsia alpina L. — +, Phyteuma
orbiculare L. — +, Leontodon hispidus L. — 1, Ranunculus pseudomontanus Schur — +,
Festuca carpatica F.Dietr. — +, Viola biflora L. — +, Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. — +,
Thalictrum aquilegiifolium L. — +, Carex paniculata — 1 (G. Coldea, pers. comm.).
Fig. 1: (Left) Distribution of Saussurea
porcii Degen in the Carpathians, based on Kobiv
et al. (2007) [5] and our own data. Circles represent
populations, squares depict settlements. Grey circles
represent the Ukrainian populations named according
to the mountain massifs in which they occur. Black
and white circles represent the locus classicus and the
new site for the species, respectively.
Fig. 2: Photos of Saussurea porcii taken on 19.08.2014 at the headwaters area of the Rebra river
(Rodnei Mts., 1796 m a.s.l.)
The newly discovered site for S. porcii in the Rodnei Mts. is currently the only known
location in Romania where this species grows. The extremely low number of individuals
42 A. MÁTIS, A. SZABÓ, L. BARTHA
growing in an island within an over-grazed environment (otherwise part of Rodnei Mts. National
Park) provides the species particular conservation concern. The authors have informed officials
of the Rodnei Mts. National Park about the discovery in order that appropriate conservation
strategies could be applied (e.g. closing down of grazing on the territory of the whole
watershed). In spite of the fact that additional specimens of S. porcii were not found in the area
during subsequent botanical excursions (G. Coldea, M. Pușcaș, A. Bartók, pers. comm.), a future
study should survey the whole watershed in order to further assess the conservation status of the
population.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to Gheorghe Coldea for providing the botanical relevé of the
site where S. porcii was discovered and for helpful discussion on the association. This study was supported by the
project entitled “Monitorizarea stării de conservare a speciilor şi habitatelor din România în baza articolului 17 din
Directiva Habitate”, and funded by “Programul Operaţional Sectorial Mediu” (POS Mediu), Axa prioritară 4, SMIS-
CSNR 17655”, contract no. 130537/10.01.2011.
REFERENCES
1. Coman, A., 1941, Contribuţiuni la flora Maramureşului (V, VI), Contributions à l’étude de la flore de
Maramureş, Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Flora des Maramureş-Bezirkes, Revista Pădur, 53 (1): 13-18.
2. Coman, A., 1946, Enumerarea plantelor vasculare din Maramureşul românesc din herbarul “A. Coman”, Bul.
Grăd. Bot. Cluj, 26 (3-4): 110-130.
3. Degen, Á., 1904, Bemerkungen uber einige orientalische Pflanzenarten, Magyar Bot. Lapok, III. (S.): 311—
320.
4. Dihoru, G., Negrean, G., 2009, Cartea Roșie a plantelor vasculare din România, Academia Română, Institutul
de Biologie București, București.
5. Kobiv, Y.Y., Helesh, M., Borsukevich, L., 2007, Saussurea porcii Degen (Asteraceae) in the Svydovets
Mountains (Ukrainian Carpathians): location, coenotic conditions, population parameters and conservation,
Ukrayins'k Bot Zhurn, 64 (6): 825-832.
6. Oprea, A., 2005, Lista critică a plantelor vasculare din România, Edit. Univ. “A.I. Cuza”, Iași.
7. Ronikier, M., 2004, Ranunculus glacialis L. in Rodnei Mountains – rediscovered after a century, Contrib. Bot.,
XXXIX: 5-6.
8. Ronikier, M., 2010, Distribution of the arctic-alpine Ranunculus glacialis (Ranunculaceae) in the Carpathians,
with a new locality in the Făgăraș Mountains (Romania), Polish J. Bot., 55 (1): 199-207.
9. Shelag–Sosonko, Y., 1996, Red Data Book of Ukraine, Plant Kingdom, Ukrains’ka encyklopedia, Kyiv.
REDESCOPERIREA SPECIEI SAUSSUREA PORCII DEGEN ÎN MUNȚII RODNEI
(CARPAȚII ORIENTALI) DUPĂ MAI MULT DE UN SECOL
(Rezumat)
Saussurea porcii Degen este o specie endemică a Carpaților Orientali descoperită de către botanistul
Florian Porcius în Munții Rodnei pe versantul estic al Muntelui Corongiș în anul 1856. Specia a fost descrisă drept
specie nouă de către Árpád Degen abia în anul 1904 și a fost dedicată descoperitorului. În Ucraina S. porcii crește în
patru masive muntoase iar localitățile respectiv statutul de conservare ale populațiilor sunt documentate în lucrări
recente. Saussurea porcii a fost considerată ‘probabil dispărută’ din Flora României pentru că demersurile repetate
din ultimii ani pentru regăsirea speciei la locul ei clasic nu au avut succes. În 19 august 2014, după mai mult de un
secol de când exemplarele vii ale speciei S. porcii au fost văzute în M-ții Rodnei, specia a fost redescoperită de către
autorii studiului în zona de obârșie a Râului Rebra (M-ții Rodnei), acesta fiind o locație nouă pentru specie.
Descoperirea a fost documentată cu o coală de herbar (CL 664545) depusă la Herbarul Grădinii Botanice A. Borza
din Cluj-Napoca. De asemenea, este prezentată, pentru prima dată, ambianța eco-cenotică în care crește aceasta
specie in România, grație sprijinului dlui. dr. Gheorghe Coldea. Numărul extrem de mic al indivizilor din populația
nou găsită, respectiv pășunatul intens din zonă necesită măsuri stricte de conservare (interzicerea pășunatului) în
vederea ocrotirii speciei.
Received: 9.10.2014; Accepted: 23.10.2014.