DOI: 10.17110/StudBot.2019.50.1.135 Studia bot. hung. 50(1), pp. 135–184, 2019 ORCHIDS IN ZALA COUNTY (HUNGARY) Miklós Óvári H–8900 Zalaegerszeg, Gorkij u. 1/d, Hungary;
[email protected] Óvári, M. (2019): Orchids in Zala County (Hungary). – Studia bot. hung. 50(1): 135–184. Abstract: In the present paper, I summarize the results of orchid research of the last three decades in the Southwest Transdanubian region. Besides publishing the detailed occurrences of the orchid taxa recorded, the relevant habitat conditions, as well as the most important environmental chang- es and threatening factors are also presented. Key words: conservation, ecosystem health indicator, endangered plant, Orchidaceae, Southwest Transdanubian region INTRODUCTION Th e family of orchids is oft en overrepresented in botanical research all around Europe: numerous new taxa are being described in the Mediterranean region, and nowadays the orchid fl ora is considered to be one of the best explored not just in Europe, but all over the World. In most of the European countries, comprehensive orchid atlases are available for the general public; in the last two decades, two such books have also been published in Hungary (Molnár et al. 1995, Molnár 2011). In the present study, the surveyed area is Zala County and its bordering countryside, which can be found in Transdanubia in southwestern Hungary. Th is is a geologically and geomorphologically diverse region of the country. In the eastern border of the region, Lake Balaton and the dolomite block of the Keszthely Mts are present; the latter is surrounded by volcanic mountains from the north.