Subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) in communities in the Great Hungarian Plain: questions of coenology, nomenclature and syntaxonomy

Abstract

Two plant communities with dominance of the subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) are described from the Great Hungarian Plain: Trifolietum subterranei Slavnic 1948 from Voivodina (Serbia) and Trifolio subterranei-Festucetum pseudovinae Penksza, Kapocsi et Engloner 1999 from the Koros-Maros region in Hungary. The paper deals with these communities. Comparison was done with stands of Achilleo setaceae-Festucetum pseudovinae Soo (1933) 1947 corr. Borhidi 1996 from Hortobagy, Eastern Hungary (Tiszantul), Oroshaza and Voivodina, too. Comparative cluster analyses based on A-D and K percentage values show that stands with subterranean clover in Hungary are similar to those of Voivodina. Therefore, Hungarian stands should be considered as those of the previously described association Trifolietum subterranei Slavnic 1948. The syntaxonomic position of this association is now changed by classifying it into the suballiance Trifolio-Ranunculenion pedati (Slavnic 1948) Purger and Borhidi suball. nova, which ...