Hortobágy is a natural park of about 800 square kilometers in the
east of Hungary (near the city of Debrecen). Hortobágy Natural
Park is the largest protected area in Hungary and said to be the
largest natural grassland in Central Europe as well. It is a
puzsta-like area with multiple wetlands in it. We went to visit
these wetlands and therefore started our walk at the visitor
centre, west of Hortobágy (Google map). The
nature reserve is easily accessible: just follow the railroad
tracks - or - if you're lazy - take the tourist train and go up
north. Lots of wild flowers can be found on each side of the
railroad track, such as Linaria vulgaris (see picture).
When you are on foot you have
access to several wooden towers which offer you a spectacular view
over the area. The bird watch shed did not offer a lot of bird
species when we were there, but the towers did! Alongside the
tracks in the marshy area there are lots of wild flowers to
discover as well. We followed the path all the way up north and at
the end we took te road to the east and finally went southwards
back to the visitor center. Lots of Limonium gmelini ssp
hungaricum were to be found there, an endemic to the area
(see picture).
In
the water of the many artificial ponds Trapa natans was
very abundant, as was Nymphoides peltata: the water
surface was plain yellow at many locations! In the puzsta-areas it
was of course very dry. Many Dipsacus fullonum could be
found there (see picture). If you want to learn more on Hortobágy
I can recommend the publication by Dirk Hilbers: The Nature
Guide To The Hortobágy And Tisza River Floodplain, Hungary
(Utrecht 2008).
Complete list of wild flowers recorded in Hortobágy Natural Park
on July 27th, 2008:
Acer campestre
Achillea setacea
Ajuga genevensis
Alisma plantago-aquatica
Althaea officinalis
Amorpha fruticosa
Arctium lappa
Aristolochia clematitis
Artemisia maritima
Artemisia santorico
Bidens cernua
Carduus acanthoides
Carduus nutans
Cichorium intybus
Clematis integrifolia
Consolida regalis / ajacis
Crataegus monogyna
Cynoglossum officinale
Dianthus pontederae
Dipsacus follonum
Elatine spec
Eryngium bourgatii
Euphorbia cyparissias
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Galium verum
Hedera helix
Humulus lupulus
Hydrocharis morsus-ranae
Inula britannica
Iris pseudacorus
Lathyrus tuberosus
Lepidium crassifolium
Ligustrum vulgare
Limonium gmelini ssp hungaricum
Limosella aquatica
Linaria vulgaris
Linnaria biebersteinii
Lythrum virgatum
Matricaria recutita
Medicago sativa
Mentha aquatica
Myosotis scorpioides
Nymphaea alba
Nymphoides peltata
Ononis repens subsp. spinosa
Phragmites australis
Populus alba
Populus nigra
Potamogeton spec
Prunus fruticosa
Prunus nana
Prunus spinosa
Ranunculus ficaria
Ranunculus pedatus
Rhinanthus angustifolius
Rosa canina
Sagittaria sagittifolia
Salix fragilis
Salvia nemorosa
Salvinia natans
Sambucus nigra
Scirpus lacustris
Silene viscosa
Solanum dulcamara
Stachys officinalis
Stachys palustris
Trapa natans
Typha spec
Vitis vinifera
Many thanks to Kees, Eric, Jan, Joost and Jos.