The flora of cemeteries in Kishegyes (Mali Iđoš, Vojvodina, Serbia)

Abstract

Researchers usually deal with the cultural values of cemeteries. Most of the publications are ethnographic. However, cemeteries are also invaluable in providing habitat or even refugia for animals, fungi and plants. In this paper, the flora of three cemeteries in Kishegyes (Mali Iđoš, Vojvodina, Serbia) is described. The cemeteries are typical of the region, and part of their area is used for arable crop production. The flora was surveyed by visiting the cemeteries every 10–15 days during the vegetation period from 2021 to 2023. As a result, 390 plant species were identified of which 196 species are used to decorate graves, while 217 species have established spontaneously. Among others, the latter group contains 68 species surviving from the natural vegetation and one cultivated plant species. Altogether 13 plant species protected or strictly protected in Serbia were encountered, out of which only 4 (Adonis vernalis, Ornithogalum boucheanum, Ranunculus illyricus, Salvia austriaca) occur naturally; the rest are planted from propagules obtained from horticultural trade, thus their genetic makeup is alien. In a landscape that has been under agricultural cultivatation for centuries, cemeteries can often be the last refuge, a kind of gene bank, for many species of the original vegetation. This holds less for the Kishegyes cemeteries: the number of remaining species of the original natural vegetation is low, as a total of 68 species are considered to be remnants of the steppe vegetation. The flora of these cemeteries includes Hypericum perforatum, a species rare to the region, albeit not protected; only its collection is under regulation. In addition to species usually planted in cemeteries, ornamental plants fashionable today can also be found. In addition to planted ornamental plants, members of the local spontaneous vegetation with ornamental value are also used to decorate the graves. As to the geographical origin of ornamental plants, 88 species are European, 40 North American, 35 Asian, and a few African, Australian and Central and South American. Among ornamental species, herbaceous perennials are the most numerous, followed by shrubs, chamaephytes and annuals. There are relatively few tree species, and only 5 rows of trees exist. Among spontaneously occurring species, 171 are native and 44 alien. Annual species have the greatest share followed by herbaceous perennials, while trees and shrubs are represented by a few species only. Among the plants encountered in cemeteries, there is a high number of alien species (155), including those that are invasive in Serbia (34), and many of the latter are planted as ornamental plants. The selective effect of multiple mowing in a year is apparent; the small populations of rare species are those most decimated.