A new species Lappula botschantzevii (Boraginaceae) from the Northern Africa

A new species, Lappula botschantzevii, is described from the desert zone of North-Western Africa. The new species belongs to the section Lappula and is close to the species L. patula, from which it differs in a smaller corolla, a scorpioid inflorescence (bilateral flowers) with loosely spaced flowers, a heteromorphic coenobium with two types of eremocarps: A) winged with glochids and a large number of spines along the edges of the disc of eremocarps and B) with a second short row of spines. The species is described based on samples from collections housed in three herbaria: Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, Sankt-Peterburg (LE, Russia) and Muséum National d ‘Histoire Naturelle, Paris (P, France), Université de Montpellier (MPU). It is named after the Russian botanist Viktor Petrovich Botschantzev, who spent many years studying the flora of Africa and who collected samples of the new species. The absence of holotypes required the typification of the names of the studied species Lappula patula, L. capensis and L. eckloniana.

Lectotypification and authorship of the name of Melilotus tauricus (Fabaceae)

The article addresses the issue of lectotype designation of Melilotus tauricus (Fabaceae) and the authorship of this binomial. The species was described by F. Marschall von Bieberstein in 1819 as Trifolium, but no type was cited. The lectotype of Melilotus tauricus has not yet been designated. It is chosen here from among the original material stored in the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute, RAS (LE). It is also revealed that the priority of the combination belongs to C. Ledebour (1823) – M. tauricus (M. Bieb.) Ledeb. – instead of N. Seringe (1825) as it was previously believed.

Siberian plants in the collection «Alpine Slides» in the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of Komarov Botanical Institute of RAS

The article assesses the richness of the collection fund of Siberian plants that grew in the historical periodfrom 1954 to 1963 and grow in the modern period from 2011 to 2020 in the collection “Alpine Slides” of the Peter the GreatBotanical Garden. The main purpose of this article was to assess the preservation of the collection fund of Siberian andpartly Central Asian plants in the historical aspect. It was necessary to identify the plant species that are most resistant tocultivation in the conditions of St. Petersburg. As a result of the comparison, it was found that at present the collection fundof plants is quite poor, compared to the selected historical segment, and it needs to be replenished. The most stable in thecollection were 22 species, as they existed in the collection both in the selected time periods and exist at the present time.The age of individuals of individual species reaches almost 80 years – Brunnera sibirica, Bergenia × ornata, Actaea dahurica,A. simicifuga, Nepeta sibirica, Spodiopogon sibiricus and others. In the modern period of time, more than 20 species didnot pass the initial introduction test and existed in the collection for no more than 2–3 years. These include Viola altaica,Mertensia sibirica, Peucedanum baicalense, Orostachys thyrsiflora and others.

ON THE SEED RENEWAL OF TAMARIX RAMOSISSIMA LEDEB. IN THE COLLECTION ALPINARIUM OF PETER THE GREAT BOTANIC GARDEN

Information about Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. has been growing in the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg since 1939. It reached 6.2 m in height at the age of 82. It is considered the most winter-hardy, characterized by long flowering and high decorative effect. The first flowering was noted in 1942, for a long time the plants only bloomed without tying the fruit. After the hot summer of 2010, fruits were first formed and self-seeding appeared in 2011-2012. This is a unique fact for such northern latitudes. The species can be recommended for landscaping and promote its culture further north. In the context of climate change and its warming at the beginning of the XXI century, constant monitoring and continuous phenological observations of Tamarix ramosissima are important.

Herbarium collections of rare species of vascular plants from the Bryansk Region, found in the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute (LE)

The report contains information from herbarium labels of collections of 68 rare species of vascular plants from the Bryansk Region of the mid-XIX – early XX centuries, found in the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute (LE). 61 species listed in the regional Red Data Book. Most of the herbarium collections belong to the central and south-western districts (Klintsovsky, Mglinsky, Pochepsky, Pogarsky, Starodubsky, Surazhsky, Unechsky) of the Bryansk Region. The main collections were made by A. S. Rogovich in the middle of the XIX century on the territory of Mglinsky, Starodubsky and Surazhsky counties of Chernigov guberniya.

The genus Camelina (Cruciferae) in Mongolia and China reviewed on the basis of herbarium materials from the Institute of General and Experimental Biology of the ASM (UBA) and the Komarov Botanical Institute (LE)

Herbarium collections of the genus Camelina preserved at the Institute of General and Experimental Biology of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia (UBA) and the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LE) were studied. The collections of these Herbaria contain materials of 3 species from Mongolia (C. caucasica (Sinsk.) Vass., C. sativa (L.) Crantz, C. sylvestris Wallr.) and 4 from China (C. sativa, C. linicola Schimp. et Spenn., C. microcarpa Andrz., C. sylvestris).

In memoriam: Vladislav Ivanovich Vasilevich (1935–2020)

Russian Botanical Society, Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and all Russian geobotany have suffered a huge irreparable loss. On May 2 2020 after a serious illness the greatest geobotanist of Russia, Doctor of Biology, Professor Vladislav Ivanovich Vasilevich left us. V. I. Vasilevich was born in 1935 in the town of Vyatskie Polyany, Kirov Region, in the family of a school teacher. After graduating fr om high school, in 1953 he entered the Leningrad State University, wh ere he specialized in the Department of Geobotany under the supervision by Professor A. P. Shennikov. After graduating from the University and post-graduate studies, in 1960 he was enrolled in the Laboratory of Experimental Geobotany of the Komarov Botanical Institute. All his scientific life was completely connected with the Institute. V. I. Vasilevich went from a junior researcher of the Laboratory of Experimental Geobotany to the ­Institute Deputy Director of the for scientific work. He was the Head of the Laboratory of the Forest Zone Vegetation, the Head of the Department of Geobotany, and the Chief Researcher of the Laboratory of Geobo­tany. For many years, he was a member of the Scienti­fic and Dissertation Councils of the Komarov Botanical Institute. He was the organizer and the leader of many geobotanical expeditions. The geography of his field research was truly diverse. Vladislav Ivanovich brilliantly knew not only the vegetation of the North-West of Russia, but also of many other regions of USSR (Kazakhstan, Taymyr, the Middle Urals, the Western Caspian, etc.). In the person of Vladislav Vasilevich, Russian vegetation science has lost an outstanding scientist, the greatest specialist in theoretical phytocoenology, vegetation classification, and the study of biodiversity (Vasilevich, 1971, 1985, 2010, etc.). He proposed the quantitative method of dominant-determinant classification (the “dominant-floristic method”) based on the analysis of the uniformity of distribution of species with similar ecology in a certain groups of plant communities (Vasilevich, 1995). Using this method, V. I. Vasilevich and his colleagues developed a detailed classification of plant communities of the North-West of Russia that has resulted in numerous publications (Vasilevich, 2000; Vasilevich, Bibikova, 2003, 2011; etc.) He had published about 300 scientific papers and two monographs “Statistical methods in geobotany” (Vasilevich, 1969) and “Essays on theoretical phytocoenology” (Vasilevich, 1983), that had a huge impact on the development of vegetation science in Russia. He was an editor of many proceedings of scientific papers and collective monographs. In 1994, he was awarded the title “Honored scientist of the Russian Federation”. He was awarded the medal of the Order “For Merits to the Motherland”. Vladislav Ivanovich greatly contributed to the training of young scientists: 5 doctoral and 15 PhD theses were defended under his supervision. For many years, he gave lectures at the Department of geobotany of Saint Petersburg University in the specialities “Biometrics”, “Vegetation classification”, “Geobotanical subdivision”, “Vegetation of the North-West of Russia”, “Special chapters in geobotany”. He led the course “Phytocoenology” for graduate students of the Komarov Botanical Institute. Numerous students of him work in various regions of Russia and abroad. Vladislav Ivanovich devoted a lot of time and efforts to the work in the Russian Botanical Society (RBO). He was a Scientific Secretary, a Member of the Presidium, and a Vice-President of the RBO, Chairman of the Section of Geobotany of the RBO, a member of the Organizing Committees of the XII International Botanical Congress and Delegates’ Congresses of the RBO. The memory of Vladislav Ivanovich Vasilevich — an outstanding geobotanist, theoretician, teacher, and organizer of science — will always remain in our hearts.

Excursion as an organization form of educational activities in Peter the Great Botanical Garden of Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences

The paper provides an overview of the tour guide activities in one of the oldest gardens in Russia - Peter the Great Botanical garden of Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences. It is the first time the authors have summarized the experience of working with visitors of the Peter the Great Botanical garden from the end of the 19th century to the present. Much attention is paid to the history of the excursion business in Russia and in the Botanical garden. The incentive to work was the growing interest in Botanical gardens and various forms of the excursion activity that now exist in the Botanical garden of Saint Petersburg. Modern science about excursions broadly describes general basics of conducting excursions, but practical techniques are not presented enough. Therefore, the task of methodological developments for the guides of the Botanical garden becomes relevant. Based on historical experience, the authors describe the rules for preparing for excursions in the Botanical garden, aspects when choosing information for excursions, special training methods, and general recommendations for excursions organization. Specific knowledge about the content of excursions in the Botanical garden will help specialists effectively and competently organize activities for environmental and biological education of both adults and young visitors.

Symbiotic chlamydomonads in algological department collection of BIN RAS

General information on the unialgal strains of green monads, mass-developing in symbiosis with other eukaryotic organisms from North-West Russia, is presented. The selected strains are maintained in the Algological Department of Komarov Botanical Institute RAS. The previous collection acronim LABIK – collection of algae of Laboratory Algology of Komarov Botanical Institute is suggested to remain. Topics on the isolation and strain identification difficulties of algae, living together with other organisms, as well as, their partners relations and perspectives of biotechnological usage are concidered.

New data on aphyllophoroid fungi (Basidiomycota) of the State Nature Reserve “Kurgalsky” (Leningrad Region)

The paper provides new data on aphyllophoroid fungi of the State Nature Reserve “Kurgalsky” situated in the Kingisepp District of the Leningrad Region. They were collected on the Kader bog and its vicinity. The list includes 165 species annotated by data on their habitats, substrates and frequency, including 37 species new for the reserve. In total 5 species (Antrodia mellita, Chaetoporellus latitans, Junghuhnia collabens, Rigidoporus crocatus, Sidera lenis) protected in the Leningrad Region and 3 species (Phlebia subserialis, Pseudomerulius montanus, Xenasma pruinosum) new for the Leningrad Region were found in study part of reserve. The specimens of selected species are kept in the Mycological Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (LE).