Association Spirodelo-Salvinietum Slavnić in the neighbourhood of the village Kochanowice near Częstochowa

Association Spirodelo-Salvinietum Slavnic of the class Lemnetea is described in the water of three ponds. To gain knowledge on the hydroecological conditions of the ponds physico-chemical investigations of their water in the period of peak plant vegetation were carried out.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Materials to the Polish flora in the Herbarium of the University of Łódź. Part XX - the genus Potentilla L. (rosaceae)

The study contains the revision of the herbarium specimens of the genus Potentilla (Rosaceae) preserved in Herbarium Universitatis Lodziensis - Department of Botany (LOD). The list of species consists of 28 taxa of Potentilla found on 605 localities althogether.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Field Thicket m the Neighbourhood of the Village of Olsztyn in the Northern Part of the Częstochowska Upland

The thicket communities grow in the fields in the neighbourhood of the village of Olsztyn near the town of Częstochowa. They include 235 species of vascular plants and 15 taxa of mosses. Two thicket associations of the class Rhamno-Prunetea are described.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Germination and Dormancy in Annual Halophyte Juncus ranarius Song & Perr.

The effects of cold stratification and gibberellic acid (GA3) on dormancy breaking for seeds of the annual halophyte species Juncus ranarius were tested. Germination percentage and recovery responses of salt stressed seeds were also tested. Freshly collected seeds germinated slowly under all incubation conditions. Thus, the seeds of J. ranarius have physiological dormancy, e.g. they are water permeable, have a fully developed embryo and require cold stratification to come out of dormancy. Furthermore, promotion of germination by GA3 after-ripening in dry storage also indicated that these seeds have non-deep physiological dormancy. In general, the higher the GA3 concentration, the more germination occurred within the studied range. Juncus ranarius demonstrated a germination preference for light. The highest germination percentage and rate of germination were recorded under constant light conditions at 22 °C after 24 weeks of cold stratification. In saline solutions, the highest percentage of germination was obtained at 25 mM L-1 NaCl, and further increase in salinity resulted in a gradual decrease in germination. However, ungerminated seeds were not damaged by salt, showing a high level of recovery. The greater the reduction in salinity, the better the germination rate became. It was concluded that dormancy could be completely broken by cold stratification, indicating spring germination. Juncus ranarius can grow well at lower NaCl concentrations under constant light conditions at 22 °C

Adaptation of the "Herbarium" Computer DataBase to Archiving and Analysis of Floristic Data

The aim of the study was to present "Herbarium" computer database. The basic goal of construction of the database was gathering and analysing of archival and contemporary floristic data referring to the area of Central Poland. Registered information considers the stands and characteristic biological and ecological traits of particular taxa. Life forms, indices of ecological requirements, the phytogeographical elements, protection and threat status are among them. The database enables the presentation of geographical distribution of taxa in the area of Central Poland with the cartogram method based on the grid of 2 km2 according to the Distribution Atlas of Vascular Plants in Poland (Atpol)

A new nothospecies in the genus Potentilla L. (Rosaceae)

The morphological, ecological and chorological features of a new hybrid from Poland are described and illustrated. The morphological characteristics of the new nothospecies Potentilla x gabarae Kolodziejek are compared with those of related species

Biochemical and growth responses of silver maple (Acer saccharinum L.) to sodium chloride and calcium chloride

The present research investigated the response of silver maple (Acer saccharinum L.) to salt treatment. The short- and long-term effects of NaCl and CaCl2 treatments on plant fitness characteristics (growth parameters, leaf chlorophyll content) and biochemical stress-coping mechanisms (proline accumulation as well as enzymatic activities) were examined. We found that the silver maple response to salt stress strictly depended on salt type and dose—calcium chloride was less toxic than sodium chloride, but high concentrations of both salts negatively influenced plant growth. The accumulation of proline, slight changes in the activity of superoxide dismutase and marked changes in catalase and peroxidase activities in the roots and leaves indicated complexity of the plant response. It was also shown that after one year, enzymatic parameters were restabilized, which indicates plant recovery, but the reduced mass of seedlings suggests that one year is not enough to cope with the prolonged cyclic salt stress, both resulting from NaCl and CaCl2 application. Therefore, seedlings of silver maple should be considered as moderately susceptible to salinity. Hence, it is recommended to use silver maple on non-de-iced urban areas, while planting on often de-iced roads should be avoided

Morphology and genome size of Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz (Orchidaceae) growing in anthropogenic and natural habitats

Background The process of apophytism or spreading native species to human-made habitats is one of the main elements in the creation of plant cover in anthropogenic areas. Lately, an increase of anthropogenic localities with valuable flora has been observed. Apophytes are also members of the family Orchidaceae, especially from the genus Epipactis. The aim of the study was to (i) determine and compare the phenotypic variation of E. helleborine (L.) Crantz plants in anthropogenic and natural habitats, (ii) compare the genome size of plants growing in natural and anthropogenic habitats. The results reported in this study may indicate that a habitat influences morphological characteristics of plant species. Methods Field studies were conducted on four native stands and four stands in anthropogenic areas of E. helleborine in Poland in years 2011–2013. Biometrical analyses were performed on shoots and flowers. The flowers were characterised by 25 biometric features and measured using a Nikon SMZ 800 binocular, microscopic Moticam-1SP cameras and the MIPlus07 programme (Conbest Co.). The nuclear DNA content was determined in fresh and young leaves of E. helleborine, collected from four natural and four anthropogenic populations. Results We observed that in anthropogenic populations: (i) shoots were higher than shoots from natural populations, (ii) flowers differed significantly in terms of ten biometric features between habitats, (iii) the genome size of some population differed significantly between plants growing in natural and anthropogenic habitats. Discussion According to some researchers, the presence of phenotypic variability and the occurrence of ecotypes are adaptation strategies of plants to environmental changes. In our opinion, in the case of the studied anthropogenic habitats (roadside) in which the E. helleborine populations grew, we can talk about ecofen due to the often repeated set of characteristic features, i.e., high shoots, long inflorescence and long, broad leaves. We agree, however, that it is difficult to isolate a taxonomic unit for ecofen due to the lack of experimental research