Summary

Currently, with a staff of 13 researchers, the Botanical Department is mainly involved in the fields of floristics, vegetation studies and taxonomy, with research areas of palaeobotany , seed-plants, cryptogams and plant conservation. In general, ourresearch covers areas of both the current-day territories of Hungary and beyond, and it often focuses on conservation lands such as national parks; collecting work is continuous within the country.

Outside Hungary, we also work in a number of exotic areas exemplified by the extensive floristic research in the Balkans, or the wide-range dendrological explorations in the temperate zones. International cooperation is quite extensive, either under bilateral cooperation or in the framework of comprehensive projects. Both the scientific work and collection development, including careful cataloguing and database building, are of major importance.

The annual growth of over 10 thousand specimens (added to the total number of ca 2million) is primarily a result of the work of our staff members, but collections also arrive through international exchange or donations.