DISTRIBUTION OF Sambucus nigra IN LATVIA

• DISTRIBUTION IN THE WORLD
• CULTIVATION HISTORY IN THE BALTIC REGION
• DISTRIBUTION IN LATVIA
• PUBLICATIONS

About 300 years ago Sambucus nigra L. was introduced in Latvia. At the end of the 19th century (about 100 years) the first occurrences of its growing wild were recorded. At present, in some places the development of shrub area in the size of several tenth square metes can be observed. Invasion of this species on forest margins and even forests takes place. Sambucus nigra in Latvia is a synantropic (arrived with human help) foreign species that in the last 100 years, mainly from the western part of Latvia slowly has distributed almost all over Latvia.

Distribution in the world
Sambucus nigra is a species of European temperate and warm areas with oceanic and suboceanic distribution area. Species is distributed in the Western and Central Europe as well as in North Africa, Scandinavia and Great Britain. Its natural distribution area reaches the 63^o northern parallel but in the East - up to the Southeast border of Lithuania as well as Dona River. In the latest studies of plant chorology the continuos Northeast distribution area of Sambucus nigra is moved more to the Northeast up to the Daugava River.
Distribution area of Sambucus nigra crosses the Baltic region and is an important species in the regional plant geography.

Cultivation history in the Baltic region
In the Baltic region Sambucus nigra as a medical plant is cultivated since 17th century (Cinovskis 1996a) but at the end of the 18th century the species was already discovered wild in Estonian coastal islands (Saaremaa Island) and in the western part of Estonia (Fischer 1778). At the end of the 19th century K. Kupfer (Kupffer 1899) mentioned that its was growing wild in Kurzeme but E. Lemans (Lehmann 1895) in Latgale, in Ruskulova. In the western part of Estonia it is successfully cultivated (Talts 1969) but up to now there is no information about the species occurrence wild. In Latvia Sambucus nigra was planted in parks and near the houses and mainly as a medical plant as well as decorative plant which in many places in Kurzeme has become wild. In Lithuania Sambucus nigra grows all over its territory on forest margins, pine forests, ruderal squares, old parks, road margins, near railways, near houses (Ramanauskas 1976; Gudzinskas 1988).

Distribution in Latvia
In Latvia Sambucus nigra occurs more in Kurzeme, Zemgale and Sēlija - the regions South and Southwest from the Daugava River. Sambucus nigra is winter-hardy in Kurzeme up to Tukums - Dobele - Iecava - Skaistkalne. More to the East it occurs only in separate places near the Lithuanian border. It is more rare in Vidzeme and Latgale as suffers from frost (Cinovskis u.c. 1974, Cinovskis 1996).

In Latvia the first localities of its growing wild were found mainly in the Southwest part (Liepaja, Grobina) but at present, as it can be seen in its distribution map, it is distributed all over the territory of Latvia.

At present, 290 localities of Sambucus nigra are known. Most of them are recorded after 1971 in parks and tree plantations when a systematic study and tree species inventory of countryside and city parks was carried out by the researchers of Laboratary of Dendroflora, National Botanical Garden of Latvia (Cinovskis u.c. 1985, 1988-1989, 1991). Before that in literature and herbarium data there were known only 11 localities Sambucus nigra, 6 of them were registered at the end of the 19th century. Sambucus nigra occurs mainly in transformed habitats in parks and as well as a decorative plant in gardens, near enclosures and countryside houses. In the cities, like Ventspils and Liepāja it distributes in ruderal places, unmanaged squares, for example in old, not used anymore dumping-grounds, deserted allotments, forest margins, near streets and roads. Far from settlements in natural habitats Sambucus nigra does not occur. The only up to now known locality where in 1987 Sambucus nigra grows in a relatively undisturbed habitat that is in shrub layer of pine forest is in Southeast Latvia near Kavalisķi.

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Cinovskis R. 1996. Koku un krūmu introdukcijas vēstures, aklimatizācijas un naturalizācijas īss apskats. Latvijas ģeogrāfu kongress. Tēzes un programma. Rīga, 20-24 lpp.
Cinovskis R. 1996a. Caprifoliaceae Juss. In. Kuusk V., Tabaka L., Jankevičiene R. Flora of the Baltic Countries. Eesti Loodusfoto AS. Tartu, 2:251-254.
Cinovskis R., Janele I., Skujeniece I., Zvirgzds A. 1974. Koki un krūmi Latvijas lauku parkos. Zinātne, Rīga, 347 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1985. Alūksnes rajona parku un apstādījumu koki un krūmi. Mežsaimniecība un Mežrūpniecība, 5:31-46.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz. 1988. Bauskas rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 52 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz. 1988a. Cēsu rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 46 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1988b. Daugavpils rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 41 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1988c. Dobeles rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 41 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1989. Gulbenes rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 25 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1989a. Jēkabpils rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 26 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1989b. Jelgavas rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 54 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1989c. Krāslavas rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 23 lpp.
Cinovskis R., Bice M., Knape Dz., smite D. 1991. Kuldīgas rajonā konstatētie koki un krūmi. Rīga, 72 lpp.
Gavrilova G., sulcs V. 1999. Latvijas vaskulāro augu flora. Rīga, 135 lpp.
Goertz J. 1938. Erfahrungen über Winterhärte fremdländischer Bäume und Sträucher im Baltikum. Mitteilungen der Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft, 51:108-116.
Gudžinskas Z. 1998. Conspectus of alien plant species of Lithuania. 7. Apiaceae, Apocynaceae, Asclepidaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacaceae, Oleaceae, Sambucaeae, Viburnaceae and Valerianaceae. Botanica Lithuanica, 4,3:249-265.
Fischer J. 1778. Versuch einer Naturgeschichte von Livland. Leipzig, 305 ss.
Kupffer K. 1899. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Gefasspflanzenflora Kurlands. Korr. Bl. d. Naturvorscher-Vereins zu Riga, 42:100-140.
Laiviņs M., Zundāne A. 1989. Latvijas ziedaugu un paparžaugu datu katalogs. Sinantropie elementi. Salaspils, 30 lpp.
Lehmann E. 1895. Flora von Polnisch-Livland. Druck von C.Mattiesen, Jurjew (Dorpat), 430 ss
Mežsēta J. 1958. Kazdangas parks. Gr. Saudzējiet un mīliet dabu. Latvijas PSR Zinātņu akademijas izdevniecība, Rīgā, 80-84 lpp.
Ramanauskas V. 1976. Caprifoliaceae seima. Lietuvos TSR Flora. Leidykla Mokslas, Vilnius, 5:513-528.
Talts S. 1969. Caprifoliaceae A.L. Juss. Eesti NSV Flora. Kirjastus Valgus, Tallinn, 4:203-205.

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