Croatia

[V.J.Treasure]

Hello everybody,

Im currently planning a trip to Croatia and am researching Habitat information for Croatia and Slovenia (Plitwitz Lakes).

So far I haven't found much information but I am still on it.

Does anyone know a location or has any other tips?

I thought I might find information about those:

P.balcanica ssp. balcanica

P.crystalline ssp. hirtiflora

P.vulgaris

Thanks in advance,

Valentin

[Rob-Rah]

I wasn't ever looking terribly hard but I have never seen pings (or any CPs) in Plitvice when I was there. Karstic ecosystems are perhaps not the best place for them, but I don't know. ;-)

[Guest]

Croatia is very karstic, but not in all areas. The climate around Zagreb and Slavonija is Continental/Temperate while along the coast is very Meditteranean. You can find Rosemary's and other Mediterranean plants growing all over the place. In neighbouring Herzegovina, where I come from, I grew up with Rosemary's and Mediterranean scrub plants: the climate is very similar to the coast where I presume you're planning to go.

However, I have noticed that since coming to the UK, the Rosemarys in that area are nothing like Rosemary's anywhere else. So I presume that Pinguicula in this region will be very different aswell. I have heard that Pinguicula are native accross the region but I have never seen them.

Good luck in finding them though! If you want, I, as a fluent Croatian and Bosnian speaker, can help you a bit with the local language if you want to ask the locals if they know anything or something The locals there know so much more than anyone else and you might get lucky and be pointed in the right direction.

Good luck!

[Jure]

Hi Valentin,

it seems some species of CP are growing exactly at Plitvice National Park area. But you'll need a guide, they are not growing all around. According to data on URL: http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/page.asp...81&parent=3 at least D. rotundifolia, P. vulgaris and U. minor are growing there.

I was there several times as a member of group and I found nothing. Well, I didn't ask anybody.

Starman, you may find somebody to ask at the forum:

http://www.svetbiljaka.org/index.php?name=...ic&p=125639

so far I haven't found better site. If you get any useful information, I'm interested also.

If you are interested in CP habitats in Slovenia than I maid be of some help. For the beginning look at the site: http://www2.arnes.si/~sopjslat/mesojedke/CPinSlovenia.htm if it is of any help.

Jure

[AndyP]

Hello everybody,

Im currently planning a trip to Croatia and am researching Habitat information for Croatia and Slovenia (Plitwitz Lakes).

So far I haven't found much information but I am still on it.

Does anyone know a location or has any other tips?

Hi Valentin,

Like Jure, I had a 'quick' look for CPs when there in 2002, and couldn't find any. I believe that they are supposed to be found at the southern end of the lakes which, when I was there, was still looking a in need of some rebuilding after the war. There are some meadows & marshy areas that could potentially have some plants.

I have some photos of the general area which I can post, but unfortunately I am really busy at work at the moment, so it may have to wait for a week or so - when are you planning on going there?

Andy.

[V.J.Treasure]

Hi Andy,

2 weeks to go

I've now got my hands on some rough informationa bout P.alpina in some areas , at least something

I'd appreciate some pictures!

Greetings,

Valentin

[napoleonbonaparte]

Croatian wikipedia says these plant live in Croatia-

Aldrovanda vesiculosa L.

Drosera anglica Huds, Drosera intermedia Hayne, Drosera rotundifolia L.

Pinguicula vulgaris L.

Utricularia minor L. , Utricularia vulgaris L. ,Utricularia neglecta L.

Pozdrav i sretno;)

[Guest]

I wonder what lives in Bosnia then, I really wanna go and explore there, as there are over 3200 different species of plants there, dozens of endemic species and more, including the rare and beautiful Lillium bosniacum-Bosnian Lilly. The diversity of plant species has been compared to that of the Tropics by some people

[V.J.Treasure]

Croatian wikipedia says these plant live in Croatia-

Aldrovanda vesiculosa L.

Drosera anglica Huds, Drosera intermedia Hayne, Drosera rotundifolia L.

Pinguicula vulgaris L.

Utricularia minor L. , Utricularia vulgaris L. ,Utricularia neglecta L.

Would be interesting to find Aldrovanda somewhere, although I'm quite sure it might be extinct there already.

As for Utricularia neglecta, that's a synonym for another species, I believe U.australis.

Greetings,

Valentin

[AndyP]

Hi Andy,

2 weeks to go

I've now got my hands on some rough informationa bout P.alpina in some areas , at least something

I'd appreciate some pictures!

Greetings,

Valentin

Hi Valentin,

I hope you haven't left for your trip yet, as I have a little more info. for you:

Firstly, the panoramas are likely to require panning back & forth in your browser, which I find annoying usually, but I didn't want to reduce them too much more in size...

The guidebook I picked up while in the park ("The Plitvice Lakes" - natural history guide/photomonography), which includes a reasonably detailed map, indicates that "At the mouth, where the White and Black river join the Matica, on a peat bog grows sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)".

I think I saw a different (newer) guidebook on the lakes more recently that didn't show the roads to the south of the area in the vicinity of these rivers (or to the west of Proscansko jezero...?), although my recollection could be wrong...

The book also states: "There is one more, extremely rare carnivorous plant of our flora that grows in the Park area - it is...Urticularia (sic) minor."

and: "There is in Croatia, another carnivorous plant of damp area that joins the listed species in the Park...Pinguicula vulgaris"

It doesn't specify where the Utricularia or Pinguicula occur, unfortunately.

I briefly investigated the area between Proscansko jezero (the most southern lake) and the village of Radlovac - the flood plain (?) of the Matica river. The photo below is taken here (I drove up the road heading north around the west side of the lake until reaching a road block, and then wandered around on foot from there, although I couldn't help thinking about land mines left after the war, even though they say they were all removed...maybe I was just being paranoid, but it stopped me looking too extensively for CPs!):

The text states that there is a peat bog where the White (Bijela) and Black (Crna) rivers meet the Matica, and to the south of the road, around where another road heads off round to the east of Proscansko jezero, there was a wet area, but I seem to recall it being quite reedy, or containing willow-like scrub. I probably took photos of this with my film camera, but haven't had time to look for these, unfortunately.

Also, to the north of the road heading through Radlovac (sorry, I can't recall whether it was to the east or west of the village), there was this area of open water & a stream (White river?). This could have potential for Utricularia, I guess:

Finally, I drove west along the road running along the White river, and stopped a couple of times. This was taken along this river, and shows some marsh marigolds (?), which I've often seen in association with CPs in Slovenia, although I couldn't see any here...

I hope you have better luck finding CPs around Plitvice than others here seem to have had!

I will probably not check the forum again until the weekend, so good luck if you are leaving before then. Please let us know how you get on!

Cheers,

Andy.