Summer Flowering Research Articles

Some characters of the pollen of spring and summer flowering common oak (Quercus robur L.)

Summer flowering of the common oak is a natural rarity, considering the large area of the species natural distribution. This phenomenon can be classified as an ancestral (atavistic) property. Pollen morphological and physiological characters from spring flowering male inflorescences collected over the period 2004 - 2007 and summer flowering male inflorescences collected in 1999 were compared. The analysis included the pollen of a tree with frequent summer flowering and a control tree with spring flowering only. The size and form of summer pollen differed from the spring flowering pollen. The germination percentage and germination energy depended on the pollen growing medium (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25% sucrose solution), year of collection (2004 - 2007), temperature (+5?C and -20?C) and storage period (1 to 24 months). The study results are significant for the explanation of common oak phylogenetic development, and they contribute to the knowledge of pollen characters under the effects of different factors.

Polycyclism and phenological variability in the common oak (Quercus robur L.)

Polycyclism is the ability for a plant to produce several flushes in the same growing season. The rare phenomenon of common oak (Quercus robur L.) summer flowering is proof of complex polycyclism. Common oak summer flowering and the unusual transformation of inflorescences were the starting point for this study of the phenological variability of common oak trees in identical site conditions. This paper presents comparative research of leaf flushing, flowering, and leaf fall phenophases in a common oak with summer flowering and a control tree in which this phenomenon was not observed. Both trees displayed frequent polycyclism (polyphase formation of annual shoots during the growing season), but with different intensities depending on the trees and the years. Compared to the control tree, the tree with summer flowering was characterized by a later onset of leaf-flush phenophase and leaf fall phenophase and a longer retention of the leaves in the crown.

ACCUMULATION OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS IN LEAVES AND UNDERGROUND ORGANS OF DROPWORT (FILIPENDULA VULGARIS MOENCH)

Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris Moench) is an Euro-Asiatic perennial belonging to the family Rosaceae. The raw materials (above- and underground organs) of this plant, rich in phenolic compounds, reveal anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic and diuretic activity. The effect of the summer flowering shoots removal on the yield of basal leaves and underground organs (rhizomes with tuberous roots) and accumulation of phenolic compounds (determined by HPLC) in two-year-old plants was investigated. The shoots removal increased the yield of these organs. The dominant phenolic compounds in the leaves were hyperoside, (-)-epicatechin and gallic acid, whereas in underground organs - catechin derivatives [(+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin]. The shoots removal significantly increased the content of gallic and chlorogenic acids in the leaves, whereas in rhizomes and tubers decreased the content of all determined compounds.

Comparative germination of Tamarix ramosissima spring and summer seeds.

Tamarix ramosissima has bi-seasonal flowering and fruit-setting characteristics. This study compared the morphology and germination characteristics of seeds from Tamarix ramosissima plants during the spring flowering period and the summer flowering period. The results are as follows: there is no significant difference in morphology, such as size and thousand-seed weight, between seeds from different the spring and summer flowering periods. Freshly harvested spring and summer flowering period seeds can both rapidly germinate under the 5/15 °C, 5/25 °C, 15/25 °C or 25/35 °C thermoperiods. Average germination time of the spring flowering period seeds is shorter than that of the summer flowering period seeds, with a TG50 of 2-18 hours (TG50 = the time when germinate percentage reached 50 %). NaCl solutions at concentrations below 0.2 mol/L have no significant effect on the germination of Tamarix ramosissima seeds from either flowering periods. However, at above 0.4 mol/L, higher NaCl concentrations adversely affect the Tamarix ramosissima seeds' germination rates. Seeds from the summer flowering period have higher tolerance of NaCl solutions than seeds from the spring flowering period. Seeds that were incubated in NaCl solution for 8 days cannot recover after being transferred to distilled water (0 % recovery), indicating that NaCl treated seeds permanently lost their germination capability. After storing in room temperature for 2 months, Tamarix ramosissima seeds from both spring and summer flowering periods maintain above 80 % viability. After 2 months, the seed viabilities decrease as the storage time lengthens. The viabilities of seeds from both spring and summer flowering periods decrease to about 40-50 % after storage for 6 months. This study can provide scientific basis for rational utilization of the biological resources in arid desert ecosystems.

Canopy cover and groundlayer vegetation dynamics in a fire managed eastern sand savanna

Savanna vegetation is characterized by high and variable ground layer species richness regulated by functional group interactions with fire regimes and canopy cover. Frequent fire selects for C4 grasses and prairie forbs in canopy openings and C3 graminoid species and shade-adapted forbs and shrubs in canopy shade. Frequent fire also maximizes heterogeneity in partial canopy cover and species richness across the full canopy gradient. However, few studies have linked fire induced change in tree canopy cover with groundlayer vegetation dynamics in relation to this model. In 1986 and in 2007, we measured canopy cover and sampled groundlayer vegetation in 1 m 2 plots along 53 transects at the Tefft Savanna, a fire managed 197 ha eastern sand savanna with strong canopy cover and elevation gradients. We analyzed temporal change in canopy cover and groundlayer vegetation, correlating percent change in canopy cover with change in ground layer functional groups. After 20 years of burning at 3 fires/decade, elevation accounted for 62% of the variation in an NMS ordination of groundlayer vegetation. However, canopy cover, which averaged 24–86% in 2007, had a significant secondary effect on the ordination. Five vegetation types classified by TWINSPAN varied significantly in elevation and canopy cover. Woody vegetation comprised 8 of the 12 species with greatest niche breadths, and tended to predominant in woodland or forest, where tree cover averaged 50% or more. Forbs had greater richness in savanna, which averaged less than 30% canopy cover. The C3 sedge Carex pensylvanica was the dominant graminoid species under woodland canopy cover, and was co-dominant with the C4 grasses Andropogon scoparius and Sorghastrum nutans under savanna canopy cover. As in other savannas, N-fixing species sorted across shade and canopy openings, and heterogeneity among transects was maximized at mid-canopy cover. Over time, canopy cover decreased up to 50%, creating more open savanna conditions at mid to high elevations. This decrease was associated with a 20–100 % increase in species richness and was significantly correlated with increasing richness and cover of C4 grasses and summer flowering prairie and woodland forbs. These results support a canopy cover model of fire-maintained savanna vegetation, with greater abundance of C4 grasses and prairie forb species associated with lower canopy cover, greater heterogeneity at mid-canopy cover, and species richness maximized across the light gradient. They also indicate that decreasing canopy cover caused by repeated burning increases species richness and abundance of C4 and prairie forb species.

Cryptid

Cryptid Ryan Wilson (bio) The Carolina Black Panther They will not believe I exist in these hills now. Sometimes I don't either.My voice smothers all the summer flowers with snow— where I walk the green world withers with earth vibrating through my unworldly sinews, each stride resonatinginside me like a strummed chord's sad euphoria I hear somewhere far from here. Nights I howl the gut gospel they say is the wind. They like their kitties small,trees in neat little squares of sidewalk. I hold death pooled in my jaws. I stalk through shadows and deserted streets, the places no one goes,and grow stronger among widowed houses and those schools where zeroes busted windows and feeling huge as night I heave myself back home to the hills and to my cave.Sometimes a child will find the dark candelabra of my track in the mud and follow it into the woods' green blackness. If he is brave he'll hearthe cave's mumble under the river's hush, the sound of shadows breathing, [End Page 546] and return to town to tell the others and be ignored. Alone he'll pull his blanketto his throat, his body lost underneath clean sheets, a little ghost haunting himself. If he is a god he will go beyond the cave and the river to wherethere are no sounds or shapes or smells or thoughts, the place the dead live, and live there beyond the need for love, for being understood. I know it's there. I live nearby.I keep descending in the darkness from the woods so he might come, and I can die. [End Page 547] Ryan Wilson Ryan Wilson, currently a doctoral student in English at Catholic University of America, has work that has appeared or is forthcoming in The James Dickey Review, Unsplendid, Measure, and other journals. Copyright © 2011 Ryan Wilson

Consistent flowering response to global warming by European plants introduced into North America

Summary1. The reliability of species distribution models (SDM) to predict the probable response of alien plants to climate change rests on the assumption that plant performance in relation to temperature in the introduced range will be similar to that observed in the native range. Yet, alien plants may exhibit enhanced performance or different environment‐distribution relationships following their introduction into a new area. Empirical data are therefore essential to test whether the responsiveness of species to climate is equivalent in the native and introduced ranges.2. This study tests the assumption that phenological responses of plants to temperature are similar in both their native and introduced range. First flowering date (FFD) is widely used to assess the responsiveness of plants to recent warming arising from global change. For 19 species native to Europe, FFD observed in both the UK and USA between 1970 and 2000 was examined in relation to interannual variation in local temperatures. General trends, variability and responsiveness of FFD to warming were examined for consistency in the contrasting climate of Oxfordshire and Washington DC.3. Mean FFD in Oxfordshire was a powerful predictor of the same variable in Washington DC, although summer flowering plants in Oxfordshire tended to flower earlier in the season in Washington DC. FFD varied considerably over 30 years, but across all species, the range in FFD revealed a similar trend in both regions with larger ranges observed for earlier flowering species.4. Comparable trends were found between Oxfordshire and Washington DC in the degree to which flowering advanced or regressed per unit temperature increase. In response to warming, the majority of species flowered earlier in both countries and the degree to which FFD responded to increasing temperature was greatest for species flowering earlier in the year.5. These equivalent phenological responses to temperature across continents imply prediction of the performance of alien plants under climate change may be derived from a species’ behaviour in its native range. While these findings support the use of SDM, they also indicate that these models could be significantly improved through the integration of phenological relationships parameterized from data in the native range.

Viability of Taraxacum officinale seeds after anthesis

Martinkova Z, Honek A & Lukas J (2011). Viability of Taraxacum officinale seeds after anthesis. Weed Research51, 508–515.SummaryThe management of Taraxacum officinale in lawns can be improved by understanding the timing of seed maturation. The development of T. officinale seed from flowering to dispersal was studied in 2008 and 2009. Percentage germination, time to 50% germination, seed mass and peduncle length increased with elapsed time since the end of flowering. Only seed collected more than 5 days after the end of flowering (DAF) germinated, and germination was not affected by cutting the capitulum from the peduncle. Seed mass increased up to 8 DAF and peduncle length up to 13 DAF. Seasonal variation in the length of time required for seed to mature in closed capitula was established at monthly intervals in 2009. This period decreased from 13 DAF in spring and autumn, to 8 DAF in summer, and time necessary to produce viable seed decreased from 6 to 3 DAF. Variation in the rate of seed maturation decreased when calendar time was converted to thermal time expressed as day degrees above a 0°C base temperature. Cutting inflorescences at 5–6‐day intervals beginning at the onset of flowering in summer or 9‐day intervals in spring and autumn may prevent T. officinale from reproducing by seed.

Temperature effects on forest herbs assessed by warming and transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient

AbstractSlow‐colonizing forest understorey plants are probably not able to rapidly adjust their distribution range following large‐scale climate change. Therefore, the acclimation potential to climate change within their actual occupied habitats will likely be key for their short‐ and long‐term persistence. We combined transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient with open‐top chambers to assess the effects of temperature on phenology, growth and reproductive performance of multiple populations of slow‐colonizing understorey plants, using the spring flowering geophytic forbAnemone nemorosaand the early summer flowering grassMilium effusumas study species. In both species, emergence time and start of flowering clearly advanced with increasing temperatures. Vegetative growth (plant height, aboveground biomass) and reproductive success (seed mass, seed germination and germinable seed output) ofA. nemorosabenefited from higher temperatures. Climate warming may thus increase future competitive ability and colonization rates of this species. Apart from the effects on phenology, growth and reproductive performance ofM. effusumgenerally decreased when transplanted southwards (e.g., plant size and number of individuals decreased towards the south) and was probably more limited by light availability in the south. Specific leaf area of both species increased when transplanted southwards, but decreased with open‐top chamber installation inA. nemorosa. In general, individuals of both species transplanted at the home site performed best, suggesting local adaptation. We conclude that contrasting understorey plants may display divergent plasticity in response to changing temperatures which may alter future understorey community dynamics.

Onset of summer flowering in a ‘Sky Island’ is driven by monsoon moisture

Temperatures for the southwestern USA are predicted to increase in coming decades, especially during the summer season; however, little is known about how summer precipitation patterns may change. We aimed to better understand how nonsucculent plants of a water-limited gradient encompassing xeric desert to mesic mountain-top may respond to changes in summer conditions. We used a species-rich 26-yr flowering record to determine species' relationships with precipitation and temperature in months coincident with and previous to flowering. The onset of summer flowering was strongly influenced by the amount and timing of July precipitation, regardless of elevation or life form, suggesting the critical importance of soil moisture in triggering summer flowering in this region. Future changes in the timing or consistency of the early monsoon will probably impact directly on the onset of flowering for many species in this region. In addition, a key implication of predicted increasing temperatures is a decrease in available soil moisture. At all elevations, many species may be expected to flower later in the summer under the decreased soil moisture conditions associated with warmer temperatures. However, impacts on summer flowering may be greater at higher elevations, because of the greater sensitivity of mesic plants to water stress.

Tree specific traits affect flowering time in Indian dry tropical forest

Dry tropical forest tree species show variations in leafless duration (i.e. deciduousness), stem wood density (SWD), leaf mass area (LMA) and leaf strategy index (LSI, reflecting resource use rate) to overcome water limitations. We investigated the role of these tree traits in the seasonal timing of flowering and subsequent fruiting. Flowering and fruiting time of 24 tree species was recorded over two consecutive annual cycles and their relationships with the abovementioned tree specific traits were examined across the species. In leaf-exchanging species having higher SWD and LMA, low LSI and short deciduousness, flowering coincides with leaf transitional state when vegetative growth is at its minimum, and fruit formation and leaf flushing are both supported at the same time. However, >4-months-deciduous species with lowest SWD and LMA, higher LSI and longer deciduousness showed predominantly dry season flowering, subsequent fruiting on leafless shoots and distinct separation of vegetative and flowering phenophases. In contrast, intermediate species (<2 months-deciduous, 2–4-months-deciduous) showed wider flowering range through summer, rainy, autumn or winter seasons. Fruiting duration varies considerably with variation in the flowering time; ca. 5–14 months in summer flowering species; 7–12 months in rainy flowering species; 6–10 months in autumn flowering species, 4–9 months in dry season flowering and 3–7 months in winter flowering species. In most species, fruit maturation occurred just prior to the onset of rains, ensuring seedling survival. The ability of tree species to withstand (leaf-exchange) or avoid (deciduousness) drought stress and varying seasonal flowering timings appear to be the principal mechanisms for successful survival and reproduction under extremely dry and seasonal climate. Since environmental characteristics affect flowering and fruiting either directly (e.g. through conditions in the habitat) or indirectly (e.g. through deciduousness, LMA, SWD and LSI), the impact of probable global climatic change will have long implications on reproduction of dry tropical trees.

Is the onset of the English summer advancing?

British summers are known to have become warmer and drier in recent decades, but has there also been a change in the timing of this season’s beginning, as has occurred for spring? This paper addresses this question by examining records of the first blooming date of early summer flowering plants (phenology) and the timing of first occurrences of warm ‘summer’ temperatures, both events that we associate with the onset of summer. This has revealed that the onset of summer in England has been advancing since the mid 1950s. The occurrence of ‘summer’ temperatures has advanced more than early summer flowering, by eleven and three days respectively in the 1990s compared to the period 1954–1963. This may have encouraged drought or heat wave conditions by prolonging the period of warm temperatures and lower rainfall in which these events occur.

Chromosome number of Camellia changii Ye

The chromosome number of Camellia changii Ye, a summer flowering camellia, was 2n=30, diploid (X=15), reported here for the first time.

Attractive Spring-food for willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus subsp. lagopus L.) studied using plant macrofossils and pollen in faeces: a methodological discussion

While macrofossil remains of herbs and flowers have disintegrated beyond identification, pollen survives the digestive process and can be identified, sometimes to species level, and is hence an important tool in determining and reconstructing animal diets. This study compares macroscopic plant parts and pollen remains in faeces from grouse. While macroscopic remains reflect the quantity of bark, twigs, berries and leaves in the birds' food, the pollen also reflects other food, such as catkins, flower buds with developed pollen, flowers and pollen attached to leaves. Both techniques reflect that Betula and Salix are the most important food for grouse in early Spring. Pollen analysis shows that later in Spring, after snow-melt, the birds are attracted to different plants, firstly, it is taxa within the Ericales and their fruits from the previous year. The nutrient value of food in periods with more or less snow cover is based on the environmental conditions of the previous year. Later on, different herbs, including insect-pollinated plants rich in nectar/sugar, are recorded in the pollen but are not reflected in the macro study, and are therefore lost in most calculations and not discussed. Nutrient content calculations based on Spring and Summer flowers need to be compared with the environmental and climate conditions of the current year.

Receptiveness of Foraging Wild Bees to Exotic Landscape Elements

Wild pollinators provide important services in both wild and human-dominated ecosystems, yet this group may be threatened by widespread anthropogenic landscape change. We explored the responses of wild bees to exotic floral species and novel habitat in a fragmented, suburban landscape using pollen grain identification. Pollen loads from bee specimens collected in 13 suburban grassland fragments in Denver, Colorado were sampled and compared with a pollen reference collection. Averaged across two seasonal sampling rounds, 45% of the bee-borne pollen grains were identified to the species level. Wild bees in this system were very receptive to using alien plants for pollen foraging; at least 45% of pollen sampled from bee specimens consisted of non-native pollen grains. During peak flowering in early summer, bees obtained at least 32% of their pollen resources from within-fragment sources and at least 7.5% from surrounding suburban residential yards. In midsummer, within-fragment sources represented 58% of pollen sampled while yards dropped to 1.5%. These bees appear to be more accepting of exotic floral species than of exotic habitat types (yards). The advantages and disadvantages of pollen load analysis for movement studies are discussed.

Effects of microtopography and hydrology on phenology of an invasive herb

Phenological traits may influence invasion success via effects on invasiveness of the colonizing species and invasibility of the receiving ecosystems. Many species exhibit substantial fine‐scaled spatial variation in phenology and interannual differences in phenological timing in response to environmental variation. Yet describing and understanding this variation is limited by the availability of appropriate spatial and temporal datasets. Remote sensing provides such datasets, but has primarily been used to monitor broad‐scale phenological patterns at coarse resolutions, necessarily missing fine spatial detail and intraspecies variation. We used hyperspectral remote sensing to characterize the spatial and temporal phenological variation of the invasive species Lepidium latifolium (perennial pepperweed) at two sites in California's San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. Considerable phenological variation was detected: L. latifolium was simultaneously present in vegetative, early flowering, peak flowering, fruiting, and senescent stages in late June; the relative dominance and distribution of these stages varied interannually. Environmental determinants of phenology were investigated with variables derived from the hyperspectral image data, from a high resolution LiDAR (light detection and ranging) digital elevation model (DEM), and from local precipitation and streamflow data. Lepidium latifolium phenology was found to track water availability, and may also be influenced by intraspecific competition and edaphic stress. Lepidium latifolium has a unique phenology (summer flowering) relative to the communities it invades, which may allow invasion of an empty niche. Furthermore, many habitats are invaded by L. latifolium, which occurs in locally appropriate phenologies under the different environmental conditions. The environmental responsiveness of L. latifolium phenology may mediate the wide breadth of invasible habitats.

Three new species of &lt;i&gt;Gladiolus&lt;i/&gt; (Iridaceae) from South Africa, a major range extension for &lt;i&gt;G. rubellus&lt;i/&gt; and taxonomic notes for the genus in southern and tropical Africa

Three new species of Gladiolus L. are described from South Africa. G. dolichosiphon is the second known member of series Blandus from the mountains of the Little Karoo in Western Cape, and is distinguished from other members of the long tubed, pink-flowered G. carneus complex by its 5 or 6 linear leaves, creamy pink to salmon flowers with a tube 30-50 mm long and longer than the dorsal tepal, and its late summer flowering. G. karooicus from the Klein Roggeveld and the northern foothills of the Witteberg, is a spring-flowering species allied to G. permeabilis but has bright, canary-yellow flowers with the lower part of the lower tepals involute and conspicuously auriculate. G. reginae is an edaphic endemic of the Sekhuk- huneland Centre of Floristic Endemism in Mpumalanga, and flowers in autumn. It is evidently a glabrous member of section Densiflorus series Scabridus, distinguished by its long-tubed flowers, streaked with red on the lower tepals and blotched with red in the throat. Anomalously, however, it has the tubular inner bracts and large capsules diagnostic of section Ophiolyza series Oppositiflorus. A re-examination of the morphology suggests that series Scabridus is better placed in section Ophiolyza and a slightly revised classification of Gladiolus in southern Africa is proposed. We also propose the replacement name G. sulculatus for the Tanzanian species, G. sulcatus Goldblatt, a later homonym of G. sulcatus Lam. Finally, a recent sighting of what appears to be G. rubellus from northern Namibia constitutes the first record of this species in the country and a major range extension from its previous known occurrence in southeastern Botswana.

‘Blue Chip’ and ‘Miss Ruby’ Buddleja

Buddleja (Scrophulariaceae Juss., formally Buddlejaceae K. Wilhelm and Loganiaceae R. Brown), commonly called butterfly bush, is a popular landscape shrub worldwide valued for its summer flowering, fragrance, and attractiveness to butterflies. Numerous cultivars in a range of flower colors are available. Most cultivars are vigorous, often attaining a height of over 2 m in one growing season, too large for many residential landscapes. To address the issue of excessive vigor, a compact cultivar of Buddleja named ‘Blue Chip’ was released. Pink is a popular color in Buddleja, but few pink-flowered cultivars are available. ‘Pink Delight’, the most common cultivar, is very vigorous, limiting its landscape uses. ‘Miss Ruby’ has been released to provide a cultivar demonstrating improved pink color and compact growth habit as compared with ‘Pink Delight’.

Powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe sp. on Lagerstroemia indica newly reported in Turkey

Lagerstroemia indica is one of the most widely used landscape trees on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. A long period of striking summer flower color, attractive fall foliage and good drought tolerance, all combine to make this plant a favourite small tree for either formal or informal landscapes. In the spring of 2008, during a survey of diseases of ornamental trees and shrubs, severe outbreaks of powdery mildew on this plant were noticed in eight parts of Izmir. White superficial mycelia with abundant sporulation developed on both leaf surfaces, on the non-lignified parts of the stems and on the surface of the fruits, forming thin, irregular colonies. Infections often caused leaf distortions, withering and reduced growth. Conidiophores were unbranched and measured 36–75 × 6–10 µm. Foot cells were cylindrical, sometimes slightly flexuous, followed by one or two cells and measured 18–33 × 6–10 µm. Appressoria were mutilobed to moderately lobed, often in pairs. Conidia were ellipsoid or cylindrical, produced singly, lacked distinct fibrosin bodies and measured 21–45 × 12–21 µm, producing germ tubes at the basal end. Chasmothecia were not observed but the above characteristics are fully consistent with Oidium subgenus Pseudoidium, the anamorph of Erysiphe. Previous records of powdery mildew on Lagerstroemia indicate that it is most likely to be Erysiphe australiana (syn. Uncinuliella australiana) (Braun, 1987; Liberato & Barreto, 2004). Specimens are preserved in the Herbarium of the Plant Protection Research Institute at Izmir. Pathogenicity was confirmed on detached healthy shoots, inoculated by touching them with powdery mildew-infected leaves. Non-inoculated shoots served as controls. Both inoculated and non-inoculated shoots were kept with ends in water within plastic bags in the laboratory where the temperature ranged between 18 and 30°C. After 12 days, typical powdery mildew symptoms appeared on the leaves of inoculated plants. No symptoms were observed on control plants. Powdery mildew of L. indica has been recorded in Argentina, Brazil, China, Japan, Switzerland, UK, USA and Venezuela (Liberato & Barreto, 2004; Shi & Mmbaga, 2006; Jones & Baker, 2007). This is the first record of powdery mildew disease caused by E. australiana on L. indica grown in Turkey.

年二回の草刈によって成立する道路沿い林縁部刈取草地における草原生植物の生育状況

Linear landscape elements, such as those colonized by roadside vegetation maintained by regular mowing, are recognized as key habitats for semi-natural grassland plant species. This study aimed to find out whether forest edge vegetation along roads mowed twice a year could be comparable to those of semi-natural grassland by focusing on compositions of grassland plant species classified by several plant traits like flowering season. A total of 37 typical grassland species were recorded and 27 species among them occurred in the forest edge vegetation along roads. The average grassland species richness and the abundance of early summer and summer flowering grassland species were significantly lower in the forest edge vegetation than semi-natural grassland. Nevertheless, the linear landscape element such as forest edge vegetation along roads might have functioned as habitats for many native grassland species under the condition of regular mowing for traffic safety reason. Grassland species diversity in forest edge vegetation may be enhanced by more suitable mowing regime, and contribute to conservation and restoration of semi-natural grassland communities especially in highly fragmented agricultural landscapes.