Vegetation und Florenbestand des Brockengebietes

Abstract

In the Hercynian mountains, Mt. Brocken is exceptional with respect to its subalpine treeless vegetation and some relictic vascular plants that are not to be found otherwhere in Germany.Mt. Brocken attracted floristic activities for over 4 centuries, the first data being from "Sylva Hercynia" by J. THAL.During the last decades, Mt. Brocken has been inaccessible for military reasons. Now, on the base of the Braun-Blanquet method, for the first time a full description of the vegetation isgiven. Some plants that had been supposed to be extinct have been rediscovered. Most of the plants of the botanical garden on the mountain, the oldest alpine garden in Germany, disappeared during the time the region had been closed, but some of them survived and migrated out of the garden.