eschweizerbartxxx 97 Nova Hedwigia 88 1—2 97—109 Stuttgart, February 2009 DOI: 10.1127/0029-5035/2009/0088-0097 0029-5035/09/0088-0097 $ 3.25 © 2009 J. Cramer in der Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, D-14129 Berlin · D-70176 Stuttgart First record of cryoseston in the Vitosha Mountains (Bulgaria) by Jaromír Lukavský 1* , Sevdalina Furnadzhieva 2 and Linda Nedbalová 1,3 1 Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Botany, Department of Plant Ecology, Centre for Bioindication and Revitalisation, Dukelská 135, CZ-37982 Třeboň, Czech Republic *Author for correspondence, e-mail: lukavsky@butbn.cas.cz 2 Academy of Sciences of Bulgaria, Institute of Plant Physiology, Acad. G. Bonchev Street, Block 21, BG-1113 Sofia, Bulgaria 3 Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Ecology, Viničná 7, CZ-12844 Prague 2, Czech Republic e-mail: nedbalova@butbn.cas.cz With 40 figures and 1 table Lukavský, J., Furnadzhieva, S. & L. Nedbalová (2009): First record of cryoseston in the Vitosha Mountains (Bulgaria). - Nova Hedwigia 88: 97-109. Abstract: Species composition of cryoseston was studied in the Vitosha Mountains (Bulgaria). In May 2005, snow fields were large, at the edge of timber line, not coloured but with dirty surface. The snow algal community was dominated by zygospores of Chloromonas nivalis (syn. Scotiella nivalis) and zygospores of *Chloromonas brevispina (syn. Cryocystis brevispina). In July 2005, only a few small snow fields with characteristic shell-form surface persisted above timber line; one field had a very light pink tint. Zygospores of Chloromonas nivalis were again dominant, but characteristic alpine species of snow algae, Chlamydomonas cf. nivalis and *Chloromonas rostafińskii, as well as cells of *Chromulina elegans and *Stichococcus bacillaris f. cryophila were also observed in the samples. Chlamydomonas cf. nivalis was dominant in late June 2006, forming patches of red snow on snow fields in the alpine zone (2100 m a.s.l.). In addition to algae, we also identified two fungal species in our samples from the Vitosha Mountains: Chionaster nivalis and *Selenotila nivalis. This is the first record of cryoseston from the Vitosha Mountains. Five taxa (*) are newly recorded for Bulgaria. Introduction Cryoseston is an attractive phenomenon of high mountains and polar regions. Red snow fields evoked attention of people already in early times, e.g. Aristotle mentioned In the memory of Georgi Ilkov, 1939-1981, a talented bulgarian phycologist.