Flax weeds in Slovakia: the end of the story?

In Slovakia, seven species of flax specialists has been identified: Agrostemma linicola, Camelina alyssum, Cuscuta epilinum, Lolium remotum, Silene cretica, S. linicola, and Spergula maxima. Six of them were reliably documented while occurrence of S. linicola is only hypothetical taking into account the occurrence in some surrounding countries in the past. Three taxa had occurred only temporarily and are evaluated as casual neophytes (Agrostemma linicola, Silene cretica, and Spergula maxima). The other three species (Camelina alyssum, Cuscuta epilinum, Lolium remotum) occurred relatively often, especially in areas with large-scale cultivation of flax and well-developed production of linen canvas (Orava region in NW Slovakia and Spiš and Šariš regions in NE Slovakia). They are regarded archaeophytes. While they were relatively common in flax fields in the 19th century, retreating process started after the First World War because flax sown areas decreased by three quarters during the world economic crisis in former Czechoslovakia. In this period, Cuscuta epilinum became extinct. The second and crucial phase of vanishing was taking place after WW2. The synergistic effect of several agrotechnical measures caused extinction of two remaining flax-weeds in fifties (C. alyssum) and sixties (L. remotum). They have belonged to the extinct species of Slovak flora (RE) for more than 60 – 85 years. In addition, with the disappearance of flax weeds, the specific vegetation of the Lolio remoti-Linion alliance vanished without a more detailed research. The only possibility to return (at least some) flax-weeds is deliberate sowing in botanical gardens and open-air museums of folk architecture as well as within the framework of increasing the diversity of the agricultural landscape in extensively cultivated fields and bio-belts.