Information is available at the Bank of LithuaniaTel. +370 5 268 0316Fax +370 5 268 0314

www.lb.lt

50 LITAS COIN FEATURING LITHUANIAN NATURE

Silver Ag 925Quality proof

Diameter 38.61 mmWeight 28.28 g

The words on the edge of the coin: LIETUVOS GAMTA Designed by Giedrius Paulauskis

Issued 2009Mintage 10,000

The coin was minted atthe UAB Lithuanian Mintwww.lithuanian-mint.lt

Lithuanian Collectors Coins

© Lietuvos bankas, 2009Photographs by S. Paltanavičius and R. Ginaitis

Published by the Bank of Lithuania. Gedimino pr. 6, LT-01103 Vilnius, LithuaniaPrinted by the UAB “Baltijos kopija”, Kareivių g. 13B, LT-09109 Vilnius, Lithuania

I went through a drought, nasty weather and frost, yet I am blooming!

LITHUANIAN COLLECTORS COINS

More than 1,400 species of budding and blooming plants grow in Lithuania. They have a short time for blooming – from March or April to October; usually, however, every species of plants have bloom for a much shorter period.

Most blossoms are produced in sum-mertime, when in a small area one can find several dozen of blooming different plant species. Some have bloom in the morning, some in the night. This is no extraordinary case in nature, as in the night many blossom pollinating insects are flying.

Already our ancestors noticed delicate plants producing five-leaf blossoms, which open their blossoms in the evening and bloom at night, with butterf lies circling around. They are particularly visible on a moonlit night. These plants

have been named catchf lies, and in Latin, their genus has been named Silene (Gr. Selene – the moon).

Around 400 species of catchfly can be found across the world, which are in the family Caryophyllaceae. In Lithuania, 10 species grow; as a matter of fact, some are not local but have been brought from abroad and dispersed by man.

In southern Lithuania, Dzūkija re-gion grows a very beautiful Lithuanian catchfly. Scientists have given it the Latin name Silene lithuanica; by the way, it is probably the only plant bearing in its name the name of Lithuania.

Silene lithuanica was described and given the name by scientists 100 years ago. While other species of catchf ly

grow in many places with their habitats reaching Asia and the western coast of Europe, Silene lithuanica, in addition to southern Lithuania, is only detected in Belarus, north-eastern Ukraine, and part of Poland. Its habitats include dry pineries, sandy soils and, still better, their damaged areas. Most often one will come across Silene lithuanicas by wood roads and tracks, in glades.

The plant is easily recognisable, as it strikes the eye immediately: its petals and stem are bluish, as if coated with wax. The 40 cm getting stem forks at the top and each branch has several short-legged flowers making a smooth shieldlike surface. Like all plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, they each have five purple or pink petals and, faded, are almost white.

Silene lithuanica blooms long – from May to September. During the time, new flowers will open and in the pods of those faded, brown seeds 0.5 mm in diameter will mature. They come out right there and germinate next year or still later. Silene can be annual or biennial: thereby nature seeks to protect this species and ensures its successful existence.

Silene lithuanica has been included in the Red Data Book of Lithuania. It is prohibited to destroy or change its habitats, pick and otherwise cause harm to the plants. While the species is not in danger of extinction,

however the plant, which is spread in a small habitat area, is always vulnerable. This species is not only a talisman of the vegetation world but entire Lithuania as well: we can be proud of it and of its name.

Selemonas Paltanavičius

Habitats of Silene lithuanica – Data before 1992 – Data for 1992 and after