This website is devoted to a presentation of plants and wildlife found in the upper Lobau, Vienna, Austria. This most westerly part of the Donau-Auen National Park is an area of natural forest, gravel banks, and backwaters in the flood plain of the River Danube. The river has been canalised in Vienna to protect against flooding; the Lobau backwaters have lost their natural connection to the river and a process of gradual drying out is in progress. Even so, the area is a valuable refuge for plants and wildlife and includes a fascinating variety of natural landscapes.

All specimens were photographed 'in situ' within an area about an hour's walk from the Saltenstrasse entrance to the Lobau in Aspern, Vienna. I have concentrated on flowers but have included aspects of plant and animal life noticed during my walks. It remains very much a 'work in progress' and I apologise in advance for any mistakes in identification.

My main sources of reference have been as follows: website of Vienna's Natural History Museum, Botanic im Bild; Wiens Planzenwelt, published by the Natural History Museum, Vienna; Der BLV Pflanzenführer für unterwegs, by Schauer und Caspari and the excellent German botanic pages of Wikipedia

Enjoy!

Margaret Eros, Vienna