Inventory of the urban flora of Budapest (Hungary) highlighting new and noteworthy floristic records.

Background: The systematic urban floristic research of Budapest was started in 2018 by the authors with detailed methodology. One scope of the research was to gain knowledge on the plant taxa appearing in Budapest and to compile the inventory of the urban flora of Budapest. New information: We have provided the inventory of the urban flora of Budapest, which includes distribution data for all 973 taxa found in Budapest between May 2018 and May 2023. We also provided new detailed occurrence data for 49 species in Budapest. Seven of them are new to the adventive flora of Hungary (Campanulaportenschlagiana Roem. & Schult., Clinopodiumnepeta (L.) Kuntze, Chasmanthiumlatifolium (Michx.) H.O.Yates, Cyrtomiumfortunei J.Sm., Linariamaroccana Hook.f., Talinumpaniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn.), three were rediscovered in Hungary (Glebioniscoronaria (L.) Cass. ex Spach, Lagenariasiceraria (Molina) Standl., Sisymbriumirio L.) and 18 were recorded for the first time in Budapest. We also provided data for two data-poor (Artemisiascoparia Waldst. & Kit., Polygonumrurivagum Jord. ex Boreau) species and we documented the major expansion of six species.

The colonial legacy of herbaria.

Herbarium collections shape our understanding of Earth's flora and are crucial for addressing global change issues. Their formation, however, is not free from sociopolitical issues of immediate relevance. Despite increasing efforts addressing issues of representation and colonialism in natural history collections, herbaria have received comparatively less attention. While it has been noted that the majority of plant specimens are housed in the Global North, the extent and magnitude of this disparity have not been quantified. Here we examine the colonial legacy of botanical collections, analysing 85,621,930 specimen records and assessing survey responses from 92 herbarium collections across 39 countries. We find an inverse relationship between where plant diversity exists in nature and where it is housed in herbaria. Such disparities persist across physical and digital realms despite overt colonialism ending over half a century ago. We emphasize the need for acknowledging the colonial history of herbarium collections and implementing a more equitable global paradigm for their collection, curation and use.

WOODIV, a database of occurrences, functional traits, and phylogenetic data for all Euro-Mediterranean trees.

Trees play a key role in the structure and function of many ecosystems worldwide. In the Mediterranean Basin, forests cover approximately 22% of the total land area hosting a large number of endemics (46 species). Despite its particularities and vulnerability, the biodiversity of Mediterranean trees is not well known at the taxonomic, spatial, functional, and genetic levels required for conservation applications. The WOODIV database fills this gap by providing reliable occurrences, four functional traits (plant height, seed mass, wood density, and specific leaf area), and sequences from three DNA-regions (rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA), together with modelled occurrences and a phylogeny for all 210 Euro-Mediterranean tree species. We compiled, homogenized, and verified occurrence data from sparse datasets and collated them on an INSPIRE-compliant 10 × 10 km grid. We also gathered functional trait and genetic data, filling existing gaps where possible. The WOODIV database can benefit macroecological studies in the fields of conservation, biogeography, and community ecology.

Seventeen 'extinct' plant species back to conservation attention in Europe.

Seventeen European endemic plant species were considered extinct, but improved taxonomic and distribution knowledge as well as ex situ collecting activities brought them out of the extinct status. These species have now been reported into a conservation framework that may promote legal protection and in situ and ex situ conservation.

Methodology of the habitat classification of anthropogenic urban areas in Budapest (Hungary).

The vast majority of floristical and coenological studies focus on the natural vegetation and its remnants in urban environments; however, there is an increasing interest in the systematic exploration of built environments. This survey of the inhabited areas of Budapest launched in 2018 applied a new and detailed methodology. The territorial units of the survey were street sections, where the presence of vascular plants was recorded in ecologically different habitats separately. We laid down the foundations to establish new habitat categories for the habitat classification and mapping of urban ecosystems using a different approach than the Hungarian habitat classification system (ÁNÉR). The method enables us to study the flora of urban ecosystems in detail. We established 18 urban habitat categories, surveyed more than 27,000 survey units and registered 647 spontaneously growing plant species in Budapest. Our survey evinced the spontaneous occurrence of 193 alien species in Budapest, 81 of them are data deficient, while 10 of them are new introductions in Hungary. 53.9% of the aliens are cultivated frequently in Hungary.

Bioactive Segetane, Ingenane, and Jatrophane Diterpenes from Euphorbia taurinensis.

A novel segetane (1: ) and jatrophane diterpene (2: ), together with five known diterpenoids possessing segetane (3: ), jatrophane (4: ), and ingenane skeletons (5 - 7: ), were isolated from the methanol extract of Euphorbia taurinensis All. The structure elucidation of the compounds was performed by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis, including HRESIMS and 1D (1H, J-modulated spin-echo carbon experiment) and 2D (HSQC, HMBC, COSY, NOESY) NMR experiments. The multidrug resistance reversing and cytotoxic effects of five diterpenes (1, 4:  - 7: ) were studied on the L5178 mouse lymphoma cell line using rhodamine 123 accumulation and the MTT cell viability assay. Segetane and jatrophane diterpenes had no cytotoxic activity on the sensitive parent and multidrug resistance cells, while ingenane diterpenes showed a cytotoxic effect on both cell lines. Ingenanes 6: and 7: and segetane 1: demonstrated the remarkable multidrug resistance modulating effect at 20 µM.