Fenyőfői Ősfenyves Természetvédelmi Terület

The ancient pine forests in Hungary are relic plant associations that remained from the pine‑birch period of the interglacial phase of the last ice age, which lasted until today, a cooler climate than the main one. Near the village of Fenyőfő, the remaining hilltop ancient pine forest was brought to attention by Pál Kitaibel. The term “ancient pine forest” itself is scientifically unfounded, which is well indicated

on the one hand, that the “Bódis‑hegy ancient pine forest” is probably not a natural association, but was planted in the 18th century,

on the other hand, that the relic forest pines that survived in the Zala bend (Saladiense flora) are not called ancient pine forests.

Based on the above, it can be assumed that “ancient” pine forests essentially refer to the smaller pine forest patches that have survived among plant associations of fundamentally different character.

The hilltop ancient pine forest of Fenyőfő

The hilltop ancient pine forest of Fenyőfő grows between Fenyőfő and Bakonyszentlászló. This hilltop forest pine (Festuco vaginatae‑Pinetum sylvestris) plant association has a single Hungarian locality.

Botanical description of the plant association:

History of its discovery

The forest pine developing near the village of Fenyőfő was long thought to be a planted forest. For a long time the view persisted that the pines had been introduced from Austria to bind the moving sands of the area. In 1799 Pál Kitaibel noticed a forest pine that seemed native and the almost merged sand‑steppe meadow hidden in the heart of the medium mountains, and he hypothesized that this hilltop ancient pine forest was a remnant‑type plant association, but this could be proven only at the end of the 20th century. Since 1954 it has been a specially protected area.

Natural conditions

The Fenyőfő sand region, as part of the Bakony foothills, is a transition between the Bakony mountains and the warmer Little Hungarian Plain areas, nestled in the Sokoró Hills. It is characteristically flat: the relative elevation difference on its surface is barely twenty metres. On the sands, soils low in organic matter have developed, with the upper layer being rather acidic, reddish‑brown forest soils. Because of the thick sand cover, strong summer evaporation usually lowers the groundwater level so much that even the tree roots cannot reach it. The streams (Hódos‑ér, Bánya‑ér, Cuha) regularly dry up. The pine forest could persist because the soil is so nutrient‑poor that oak and beech cannot survive there.

Plant geographical characteristics

Plant-geographically the area belongs to the Bakonyicum floristic region, Vesprimense floristic subregion; its zonal vegetation association is oak‑beech. The main natural value of the forest pine is that its undergrowth contains together species typical of the lowland sandy, warmer regions (Eupannonicum floristic region) and herbaceous plants that prefer cool, moist mountain habitats. Species characteristic of the Great Plain:

rock violet (Viola rupestris),

rock hogweed (Peucedanum arenarium),

rock stonecrop (Sedum sartorianum),

military orchid (Orchis militaris),

rock fescue (Festuca vaginata),

rock feather grass (Stipa sabulosa).

Mountain species:

wintergreen (Pyrola spp.)

small moonwort,

black pasqueflower (Pulsatilla pratensis ssp. nigricans),

long‑leaf helleborine (Cephalanthera longifolia).

Two vegetation‑association types are distinguished:

rock forest pine,

wasteland fescue forest pine.

Fauna

Two notable insects are the pine‑associated jewel beetle (Chalcophora mariana) and the Dalmatian longhorn beetle (Acanthocinus aedilis).

The nature reserve

The 449‑hectare Fenyőfői Ősfenyves Nature Reserve is managed by the Balaton‑Highland National Park Directorate. The nature reserve is freely accessible to visitors. A memorial oak tree erected in memory of Pál Kitaibel stands among the pine trees.

Other ancient pine forests in Hungary

Bódis‑hegy ancient pine forest: probably not a true ancient pine forest, but an 18th‑century planting. See in detail: Felsőgalla

Near the village of Écs (Écs ancient pine forest): two forest patches in the Pannonhalma Landscape Protection Area, on the hill called Sokoró Csillag.