In the Rudăria Gorges, the water meadow vegetation belongs to the Stellario nemori-Alnetum glutinosae (Kästner 1938) Lohm. 1957 association characteristic to the hill and low mountain areas. The valley characteristics determine the water meadow vegetation to be discontinuous: on the steeper walls over the forest road, water meadow species mix with lilac and flowering ash bushes, while upstream the beech and hornbeam woods go down to the river banks. The vegetal cover contains thermophilous species also characteristic for other gorges in southern Banat. Mediterranean, Balkan, and Pontic elements underline the link between the flora in this area and that of other regions south from Romania. The diversity of flora in the Rudăria Gorges is completed by the presence of some endemic, rare species.

Rudăria Gorges; water meadow vegetation

Presentation: oral