The Botanic Reservation Suatu
The reservation from Suatu is situated 26 km away from the South-East of the town Cluj-Napoca. It is considered one of the most beautiful and complex botanical garden from South-Eastern Europe. The Reservation lies on the Southern side of the city, on an altitude of 410 m, and lies on 14 hectares. The surface of the reservation is bumpy, being proper for various landscapes, it offers optimal conditions for the plants. It was founded having the purpose of conserving some specie of flowers of great scientific importance, such as steppe species, the tertian relict Ephedra distachya, Astragalus peterfii, Salvia transsilvanica.
The Reservation from Suatu is one of those that are protected by law as monuments of nature, fact that proves its importance. The purpose is keepning a mixture of endemics, Pontic elements and Mediterranean elements.
The Reservation is divided in 2 parts, almost equal, by the Tiganilor River, so that Suatu 1 has 3,8 hectares and Suatu 2 has 4 hectares. On Suatu 1 there is Astragalus peterfii and on Suatu 2, Ephedra distachya, the both co-existing with other steppe species, such as Salvia nutans, Astragalus dasyanthus, Cephalaria uralensis, which are rare plants; here there are also some dacic elements, such as Cephalaria radiata, Jurinea transsilvanica, Onosma pseudoarenarium and Salvia transsilvanica.