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Gypsophila perfoliata L.

Flora Europaea Flora of China (including illustration) the Linnean original specimen Grin taxonomy annual / biennal / perennial, T / H (and not always perennial, Ch as indicated usually in floristic books); in this case it would be impossible for the species to adapt as a ruderal in the railway vegetation communities maritime sand-dune species, which was very rare along the Black Sea shores; nowadays seemingly it becomes a more and more spread ruderal element Pontic - Caspian - Aralian - west Mongolian - Irano - Anatolian - Syrian  (in its natural habitat) and not only Pontic as written in the European flora books; expanding along the railways in Moldavia and - as it cand be seen in this article for the first time - now also along the ones of Transylvania. Its close but not so much branched relative, Gypsophila scorzonerifolia Ser. (a name under which G. paniculata was also known in the Flora of Romania) is a ruderal invader in the Flora of North America and is expected to become much widespread there. Scabiosion argenteae in its natural habitats (see Sanda, V. (2002) p. 151, a ruderal in other places, preferably along the railways in Dauco-Melilotion R16 (natural habitats) and R87 (ruderal habitats, along the railways)           A very rare Pontic - central/south-western Asian sand-dune species started to travel as a ruderal across Europe. Indeed, Gypsophila perfoliata was one of the rarest species in Romania, being known only in a few places of Dobrudja on sand dunes along the Black Sea shores. However its aspect, structure and ecological inclinations towards a ruderal behaviour seemingly strongly encourages it to largely widen its range from the Pontic areas towards Central Europe. Chifu, T., Manzu, C., Zamfirescu, O. (2006) - Flora and Vegetation of Moldavia vol. I Flora, Ed. Universitatii Al.I. Cuza, Iasi (in Romanian) p. 47, in their vast regional monography mention this species in a ruderal context (Dauco-Melilotion) from five localities in Moldavia (Iasi, Podu Iloaiei - Iasi county, Banca, Barzesti, Vulturesti - Vaslui county, the last locality erroneously mentioned from Galati county). Not surprisingly all these localities are placed along a railway and we assume that in this context the species was always found in the railway adjacent ruderal vegetation. We firstly encountered this species at Eforie Sud in august 2001 in a narrow place along a deserted concrete building and in a clear ruderal context, though placed in the middle of the natural habitat of the species (maritime sand dunes) as indicated usually in the flora books - see the pictures from the second set below. This place was shown to us by our much regreted colleague dr. Gh. Groza in 2001 and in August 2006 we revisited the site for photographing the species. It was so a surprise to find a maritime sand-dune species along a railway in Transylvania (near the city of Dej) on 3rd of September 2009 - see the first set of pictures below - but after we see the localities mentioned in the last book mentioned above about the flora of Moldavia, it became clear to us that the species somehow made its way to the seashore Romanian railway south of Constanta, began to act as a ruderal and started to travel across the country. The large inflorescences of this annual - biennal plant with hundreds of flowers and thousands of seeds probably get hanged on the underneath parts of the trains and travel until they fall somewhere, hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. As a consequence we will not be surprised to find out that this species will be found quite soon in many other places of Europe. Probably it is not a coincidence that the species is mentioned from Podu Iloaiei, one of the principal stations in Moldavia along the main railway which links Moldavia to Transylvania. Each day at least two trains for persons pass from Iasi to Timisoara through here and they pass also along Dej city, not to mention also the cargo trains. At a first sight, we did not believe our eyes that this sand dune species was there, along the railway in the middle of a banal ruderal vegetation from the southern outskirts of Dej city. We were inclined to see Gyposphila paniculata here which was known from Transylvania before but even the Linnean herbarium original type specimens of the two species which can be seen here (G. paniculata) and here (G. perfoliata) clearly had shown which species was in front of us. The photos below were taken at Dej, Cluj county, on the railway in the front of the former Terasia factory. We were there to check for Peucedanum latifolium which was mentioned from exactly this place by I. Prodan in 1931. This halophyle species has dissappeared but we had a great surprise to spot this maritime species here, acting this time as a true ruderal element along the railway. Coordinates of the place: 47 08 05.3 N / 23 53 58.5 E. There were around 50 mature individuals and more than 300 juveniles (basal rosettes) dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com A. Alec, PhD student , andreea_alec@yahoo.com Eforie Sud, Constanta county, 10th of August 2006 dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com