DIGITALNA ARHIVA ŠUMARSKOG LISTA
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park on the Island of Lokrum. It is an interesting fact that at the time of Maximilian, there was an entire collection of acacias / sensitive plants on Lokrum, as much as 11 species (Table 1). This is the genera easily cultivated in favourable climate such as the one on Lokrum. In its memoirs, Maximilian mentioned that they have collected seeds of different species of acacias on the Island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean (Maximilian 1868). On Lokrum, Maximilian intended to establish an outdoor acclimatisation garden for the then exotic, mostly tropical plants, within the natural autochthonous vegetation of the island. And during his time on the island, he succeeded in that (De Visiani 1863, Portilla 1864). Such concept of planted exotics was preserved until 1873, when the evaluation of the special exotic fund of the park determined the departed plant specimens in excellent state (AT-OeStA/HHStA PFF GDPFF SR 40-1). During the time of Maximilian, there was one head gardener and one assistant gardener employed on the island, including 7-20 local workers, who were engaged on the works in the garden on daily basis. The concept of planting the allochthonous plants within the natural island vegetation required daily care, especially in terms of weed protection, but also irrigation and constructing wind protection structures, as recorded by the court head gardener J. Laube (AST, N 30, f 74, nn 4-370, 1859-60). After Maximilian’s period, garden maintenance was never again at the same level. What followed was a successive degradation until the present days. The analysis of the taxa inventories from the second half of the 19th century shows that there were 213 taxa in total. Compared to the present state (Table 1), there is a notable difference in the taxa in the ornamental gardens, especially the allochthonous ones, which were then considered exotic. Out of 51 ornamental allochthonous taxa identified today, which is a quarter of the number from the time of Maximilian, only 21 taxa were preserved from his period, such as; Aucuba japonica, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Canna indica, Chamaerops humilis, Cedrus deodara, Cocculus laurifolius, Cycas revoluta, Eriobotrya japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Pittosporum tobira, Strelitzia reginae, Taxus baccata and Yucca gloriosa. Among them, the specimen of Cycas revoluta and Taxus baccata, located in the gardens in the west part of the compound, represent the oldest original allochthonous taxa from the mid-19th century. It was determined that today there are 20 autochthonous taxa (9 of them persisted from the time of Maximilian) within the area of the ornamental gardens. Due to lack of intensive maintenance within the autochthonous island vegetation, the majority of the allochthonous exotic taxa failed to survive. The most numerous planted woody taxa from the time of Maximilian is Cupressus sempervirens (own research 2018, 2019). These cypresses were planted along the walkways in the north part of the island, as well as in the direct vicinity and in front of the Benedictine monastery and Maximilian’s mansion. An interesting fact says that until the end of 1863, Maximillian has had over 700 cypress seedlings planted (AST, N 30, f 74, nn 4-370, 1859-60; AST, N 31, f 75, nn 373-1233, 1861-62; AST, N 32, f 76, nn 1-69, 1863). This has been confirmed with the recent research establishing that the most numerous planted units on the island are Cupressus sempervirens ‘Pyramidalis’ and C. sempervirens ‘Horizontalis’ (Hudina et al. 2019). The specimen of Buxus sempervirens, located within the gothic-renaissance cloister of the Benedictine monastery, are among the oldest autochthonous taxa from the second part of 19th century. The purpose of this research was to carry out a comprehensive review of the horticultural taxa planted in the second half of the 19th century. The identified list is important in the context of the restauration works that awaits Maximilian’s gardens on Lokrum. Thereby, the possible reintroduction of the certain taxa must be considered in light of the several facts. The island of Lokrum is today fully protected as a Special Forest Vegetation Reserve, which includes the area of the ornamental gardens originating from the times of Maximilian. Therefore, the possible reintroduction of the certain taxa should be in line with the ecological, phytosociological and landscape features of the Lokrum area. It is a very important fact that in 1959, a botanical garden was established on Lokrum, covering the surface of 2 hectares. This was done precisely in order to research the adaptation to the Lokrum climate of taxa originating from the tropical or subtropical areas (Dolina and Jasprica 2011), which are located outside of the areal of the ornamental gardens covered by this paper. In this context, Maximilian’s garden in a certain way lost one of their main original functions. Still, their value is undeniable in light of their historical, stylistic and symbolic significance and due to the fact that an archduke, who later became an emperor, was personally involved in their creation. For all of the mentioned reasons, when renovating the gardens, one should not consider the introduction of all taxa from the original list, but select the taxa that significantly contribute to renewal of the stylistic features of these gardens at the time of their original creation. At the same time, all invasive and potentially invasive taxa that are not included in the official lists of invasive plants, such as the taxa from the genera of Pittosporum, Mesenbriamthemum, Acacia etc., should be excluded. A substantial influence on the selection of taxa should come from sustainability and maintenance of the gardens, since the “life” of a garden begins only after these have been ensured. CONCLUSIONS ZAKLJUČCI This research was the first one to determine the quantity of the horticultural taxa planted on Lokrum in the second half of the 19th century when the island had been the property |