The issue of the presence of a regenerative niche Malva alcea, recently discovered on the Ai-Petrinskaya Yila, is being discussed. This species is typical polycarpic grass, rooted, hemicryptophytes with summer-green vegetation type, entomogamous, barohor with generative propagation. The range of Malva alcea covers almost the whole of Europe, includingGreat Britain; it is also found inNorth America. To obtain an ambiguous answer, we used the original program for calculating the packing density of community species on gradients of factor conditions and resource factors: (illumination-shading, thermal mode, ombro mode, cryo mode, continentality, moistening, variability of moisture, substrate acidity, salt regime (anionic composition), carbonate content, nitrogen content, granulometric (mechanical) composition (porosity) of the substrate). Most often, the species can be found in the syntaxons included in the class - Onopordetea acanthii subsp. acanthii Braun-Blanquet 1964 em. Julve 1993, order - Onopordetalia acanthii subsp. acanthii Braun-Blanquet & Tüxen 1943 em. Görs 1966, union - Onopordion acanthii subsp. acanthii Braun-Blanquet 1936, which summarize the thermophilic ruderal communities of tall weed species. Based on the analysis results, it can be stated that the introduced species successfully occupied its ecological niche due to the successful differentiation of its fundamental niche into the realized niche of the existing plant community, as well as due to the availability of free resources in the ecotope, as evidenced by the negative value of the excess coefficient of the packing density curve.

The article presents the results of study some features of the development of Asphodeline taurica (Pall. ex Bieb.) Endl. in the south-western part of the Crimean peninsula. The age structure, density per m² and the type of coenopopulations of the species in various ecology-phytocenotic conditions have been described. It is shown that generative structure formation processes are mostly similar to other species of the genus Asphodeline , and the viability and peculiarities of seed formation can ensure optimal reproduction of Asphodeline taurica. The main limiting factors of species conservation and reproduction are anthropogenic impact and hydrothermal conditions during critical periods of genesis of generative structures, as well as the presence of pollinating insects during the flowering period.

The species composition of the indigenous woody plants of theCrimeawas studied. For the peninsula, 165 species of 58 genera and 31 families were recorded. 148 forms for 50 species of woody plants from 34 genera as well as 11 hybrids for 6 species of plants have been described. In total, there are 320 taxa of woody plants in theCrimea. Of them, 24 species are included in Red Data Book. Woody plants are distributed unevenly across the territory of the Crimea: Crimean Steppe (CS) - 1 species, Crimean Forest-Steppe (CFS) - 5, Mountanious Crimea (MC) - 37, Crimean Southern Coast (CSC) -7, CS+CFS+VC+ CSC - 26, CS+CFS+ CSC - 3, CS+ CSC - 2, CS+CFS+MC - 4, CS+CFS - 2, CS+MC+ CSC - 2, CS+MC -1, CFS+MC+ CSC - 30, CFS+ CSC - 5, CFS+MC - 14, MC+ CSC - 27 species. Dominating are the genera:Rosa- 16 species, Rubus - 21, Crataegus - 15. There are 101 species of shrubs and 64 species of trees; of them evergreen deciduous trees - 1, coniferous - 8, evergreen shrubs - 10, deciduous species - 146 species. Locally distributed are 19 species of the following genera: Arbutus, Betula, Daphne, Myricaria, Nitraria, Rubus, Ruscus, Vitex.

The main stages of creating automatic vegetation classification procedures (contingency indices, similarity coefficients, simple algorithms for automatic classification - construction of dendrograms, dendrites, correlation pleiades, etc.) are discussed. The reduction of the number of features (types) is considered as the first condition for the optimization of the classification procedure. The results of the experiment on the reduction of species with the automatic classification of 50 descriptions of Achnatherum splendens (Trin.) Nevski formation in the floodplain of theTuulRiverinMongoliaare discussed. It is concluded that new successes in the automatic classification of vegetation should be expected not in the direction of developing some new methods, but in advancing new ideas about the structure and character of the dynamics of plant communities (paradigm shift).

The article summarizes the literary and proprietary data on the moss flora of Kastel State Nature Reserve. The features of the taxonomic structure of bryophytes in this territory are considered. The brioflora ofMountKastelis represented by 90 species belonging to 61 genera, 37 families, 15 orders and 4 classes: of which 19 are liverworts and 71 leafy moss. Identified taxonomic features are characteristic of southern floras. The leading position in the floristic spectrum is occupied by the families Pottiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Grimmiaceae. In the generic spectrum, Bryum and Grimmia prevail. A comparison with the Crimean bryoflora is shown, showing a high percentage of species diversity of the study area. The high sozological value of bryoflora has been established - 53.8% of the species are included in the regional Red Books of theRussian Federation, and seven species are listed in the Red Book of the Republic of theCrimea, which confirms the high scientific importance and environmental value of the territory of the Kastel reserve.

The article presents the results of a long-term research on the introduction study and evaluation of cultivars of tea-hybrid roses introduced and selected by the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens to determine the possibilities of their use in floriculture of the Southern Coast of the Crimea. The research was conducted in the period from 1955 to 2014. The material for the study was 679 cultivars of garden roses from the tea-hybrid garden group of the collection of the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens. As a result of a comprehensive study, 400 cultivars are recommended for use in the floriculture of the Crimea. The main options for this use becomes the growing of tea-hybrid roses in the open ground for gardening purposes in bush and tree-shaped forms, as well as the growing cultivars for cutting in both open and protected ground. The biological features of the cultivars, which determine the possibility of different types of the use and the cultivars, that have these features were identified: 400 cultivars were recommended for use in landscaping in bush form, 45 cultivars - also in tree-shaped form, 226 cultivars are promising for cutting in the open ground and 107 cultivars - for forcing and cutting in greenhouses. The main methods of propagation of cultivars of tea-hybrid roses under the conditions of the Southern Coast of the Crimea are budding and rooting of green and hardwood cuttings. The optimal timing for propagation by each of these methods is indicated. The best rootstocks for budding were identified, depending on the type of their use in floriculture.

 

An old British ivy cultivar ‘Cavendishii’ is revealed in the Arboretum of the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens. It has persisted here as relict of cultivation since the XIX century. Stellate brushy trichomes on leaf blades evidence the plant belongs to H. helix. Morphological characters specific to the cultivar’s leaf blades in plants examined fit completely the descriptions, images and live specimen of ‘Cavendishii’ that received from Great Britain. The value of this finding is great: we get the early original version of an old cultivar that lost its certainty considerably because of huge synonymy, imposter clones and identification mistakes. Some historical and ecological factors that provided preservation of ‘Cavendishii’ in the Garden are discussed.

Decorative forms of species of Cupressaceae family are promising plants for green construction. Therefore, the search for optimal methods of their industrial reproduction in nurseries is an urgent task. The present work presents the results of research on the propagation of 60 decorative forms from 4 genera (Chamaecyparis, Juniperus, Platycladus, Thuja and Thujopsis) and 14 species of Cupressaceae family by cuttings using an artificially intermittent fog cannon and a root formation stimulator. All the studied forms show the ability to rhizogenesis. Rootability ranged from 3 to 100%. In the experiments we studied the rooting of woody (taken with a two-year or three-year shoots), softwood (taken in spring of the growth of the current year) and semi-woody (taken from annual shoots) cuttings and a significant dependence of the cuttings to their type was revealed. It was found that the most promising option is the rooting of semi-woody cuttings, which have the highest percentage of rooting, as well as the most intensively developing and powerful root system and accelerated development of the aboveground part. Seedlings obtained as a result of rooting semi-woody cuttings, better tolerate stress after transplanting from the seed plots under the fog cannon to containers and have a high survival rate, which ultimately ensures the production of high-quality planting material. The method of propagation of decorative forms of Cupressaceae family by rooting semi-woody cuttings with the implementation of the fog cannon and root formation stimulators is recommended for widespread implementation in the practice of nursery management.

Objective. To study the effect of clove tree essential oil on the cardiovascular function of the elderly with normal blood pressure and with small deviations in the direction of hypertension and hypotension. Materials and methods. The study included 293 elderly women divided into 3 control (sessions of relaxation psychotherapy) and 3 experimental (sessions of relaxation psychotherapy combined with sessions of aromatherapy with clove tree essential oil) groups by blood pressure (normal, small deviations towards hypertension and hypotension), each of which was divided into three subgroups by exposure time (10, 20 and 30 minutes). Before and after the sessions, systolic, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate of the testees were measured, and then the following indicators were calculated: pulse pressure, stroke volume, minute cardiac output, average dynamic arterial pressure, total peripheral vascular resistance, heart mdex<, Robinson rndex^ Kerdo index<, coefficient of efficiency of blood circulation. Results. It was found that the effect of clove tree essential oil depends on the initial level of blood pressure. The testees with a slightly increased blood pressure (up to140 mm Hg) after aroma sessions of aU durations the blood pressure became normal. Accordingly, the values of the minute cardiac output, heart mdex<, coefficient of efficiency of blood circulation, Robinson index were normalized. The testees with normal blood pressure, the sessions of aroma psycho-relaxation practically did not cause changes in parameters characterizing the functions of the cardiovascular system The testees with moderate hypotension (on the average110 mm Hg) during the aroma sessions had the shifts to the normal of the parameters characterizing the functions of the cardiovascular system Thus, clove tree essential oil has a normalizing effect on the function of the cardiovascular system of elderly women at all its initial values.

The objective of the work was to identify changes in the amount and component composition of essential oil in the raw material of Thymus vulgaris L. (common thyme) when using different distillation methods. The object of the study was two samples of thyme-thymol and linalool chemotypes. Essential oil was obtained from freshly harvested raw materials (inflorescences in the mass flowering phase) by the following methods: hydrodistillation method on Clevenger apparatuses and steam extraction method on the installation for the production of essential oil and intermediates "Alpha-Ether Compact". The component composition of volatile substances was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In the composition of volatile compounds of plant essential oil, 29 components for the thymol chemotype were identified, and 18 components for the linalool chemotype were identified. It was found that the use of the hydrodistillation method allows extracting 40-50% more essential oil. Significant differences were found between the mass fraction of extracted essential oil components using different methods and the content of the mass fraction of essential oil in the raw material of Th. vulgaris and found that depending on the method of obtaining essential oil, the proportion of volatile terpene hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing compounds changes. The method of steam distillation leads to a deterioration of the component composition of the essential oil, reducing the content of the dominant components of both chemotypes (thymol and linalool).

One of the main tasks of botanical gardens is to create and maintain biological collections. There are 5 types of Lycopus in the biological collection of «All-Russian research Institute of medicinal and aromatic plants». One of them is the Lycopus americanus Muhlenberg ex W. P. C. Bart., was the object of this work, as the most difficult in cultivation. In nursery 1-4 years of vegetation researches of growth and development of a Lycopus americanus were carried out. Seeds of Lycopus americanus were received by the exchange Fund from Canada. Sowing was carried out in May 2016 inthe conditions of protected soil in pallets 7×7 cm. Seedlings were grown for two months at a temperature of +18+20 °С and illumination of 1000-1200 lux. In the first decade of July, the nursery was laid with 60-day seedlings according to the scheme 20×60 cm. The area of the plot is 0.8 m², the repetition is fourfold. Accounting of indicators and processing of results were carried out according to standard methods. Experience in vegetative propagation of Lycopus americanus (2018-2019) got them out from the mother plant and according to the scheme experience, after dividing and planting these divided roots once watered with a solution of homeopathic preparation "Arnica C200" in a concentration of one granule/5 l of water, a flow rate of 5 l/ m²(experiment 1). Of experiment 2, plants after transplantation were once watered with a solution of lactose (milk sugar), the granules of which are filler for homeopathic preparations. The concentration of the solution in option 2 is 1 granule /5 lof water. Control plants were watered with water in the same volume. In the course of the studies it was revealed that the most significant increase in height have plants of the 2nd year of vegetation. The growth decreases with age and in 4-year-old plants reaches minimum. During the season, the greatest increase in height occurs in July and August (in the stalk stage). Watering with a solution of the homeopathic drug "Arnica C200" (experiment 1) during vegetative reproduction of Lycopus americanus causes an increase in height in the first year of vegetation (from 60 days from transplantation) by 30% - 36%. The number of axillary shoots in treated plants by the end of the growing season exceeded the control by 1.6-1.8 times. The dry land mass of treated plants (experiment 1) increased by 34% relative to control group. The treated plants showed an increase in the size of tubers with buds of renewal relative to the control group. The dry mass of the underground part of the treated plants of Lycopus americanus (experiment 1) us by the end of the growing season exceeded that of the control plants by 21%. The average dry mass of 1 tuber at the end of the growing season was 0.63±0.061 gin control plants and 1.17±0.112 gin experimental samples. It is possible to grow Lycopus americanus as a long-term culture in theMoscowregion. The largest increase in biomass of the grain falls on the second year of vegetation. Starting from the third year of vegetation, it is advisable to propagate the plant by dividing the rhizomes in the spring. The homeopathic preparation "Arnica C200" as growth regulator well proved at vegetative reproduction of a Lycopus americanus . Its use causes excessive buildup of Lycopus americanus - storing tubers with the buds of renewal

The results of long-term entomological observations at nurseries and in the collection greenhouse of PABSI are presented. The species composition of pests in the collections of open and closed ground of flower and ornamental plants in thePolar-AlpineBotanical gardenwas determined. The dominant invertebrates in nurseries are: Deroceras reticulatum Mtill., Eriophyes padi (Nal), Macrosiphum rosae L., Philaenus spumarius L., Gonioctena quinquepunctata F., Gonioctena pallida L., in greenhouses - Brevipalpus obovatus Donn., Neomyzus circumflexus Buckt., Myzodes persicae Sulz., Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis Bouche. Long-term observations of the state of flower and ornamental plants in greenhouses have shown that not only the species composition changes, but also the status of pests. An important role in the formation of the artificial biocenosis of the greenhouse is played by the food preferences of phytophages. Regular surveys revealed the presence of pests on plants of 41 families. The distribution of plants by the degree of pest population depending on the life form is presented. The most actively populated by the species of tree and shrub groups. The presented species composition of pests of flower and ornamental plants of open and closed ground can not be considered definitively studied, since changes in the trophic relationships of pests were noted during the study period.

The aim of the research was to identify the regularities of dimethoate transformation in apple agrocenoses under the influence of protection technologies.

Methods. The work was done in Toxicological laboratory of the North Caucasus Federal scientific center of horticulture, viticulture, winemaking. The research was conducted in field and laboratory conditions with using of methodological approaches based on modern methods and techniques. The pilot territory was laid in close corporation PPF Central. The extraction of analyzed compounds by plant and soil material is carried out according to the "Guidelines for the determination of micro-quantities of pesticides in plants, processed products, soil and water".

Results. The background determination of organophosphate pesticides in soil before the planned treatments during this year revealed: the substance of dimethoate is higher the hygienic regulations in 1.3-1.4 times in 53% of the examined samples. During the harvest period, the content of dimethoate in all soil samples exceeded the permissible concentration, in the control version includes 0.3-0.5 PC of dimethoate. The accumulation of dimethoate is associated with its ability to react with complexing metal ions, which count in our soils is sufficient.

Conclusion. Compiling the apple protection system is recommended to take into account that the annual using of dimethoates implying a violation of hygienic standards in soil and apple fruits. If there is a single application, residual amounts of dimethoate are in apple fruits, and their concentrations are exceeding or staying in the maximum permissible level. The samples were taken after 40 days of treatment. We recommend to exclude these insecticides (including D. V. dimetoate) from the apple tree protection system or use single application every 2 years in the first half of growing season.

As a result of the carried out studies of biological activity of edaphotopes of anthropogenic transformed ecosystems, it was found that the largest number of microorganisms and streptomycetes it was characteristic for common chernozem. For the soil horizons of primitive undeveloped fragmented soils, was recorded the lowest percentage of the microorganisms number (on average 4-5% relative to the control). The number of streptomycetes in both intrazonal and soils of anthropogenic transformed soils and zonal soils varies in horizons. However, we have noted that in intrazonal and anthropogenic transformed soils streptomycetes are in most cases concentrated in underlying soil horizons. Our studies on micromycetes have found that this group of microscopic fungi accounts for up to 50% of the total number of microbiocenosis, with the smallest number recorded in the genetic horizons of primitive undeveloped soils on sandstone. Cellulose-destroying microorganisms in the soil microbocenosis of monitoring sites are least represented.