Collection of rare plant species of Kazakhstan in the conditions of the botanical garden of Almaty

УДК 59(089):580.06:631.54(574.20)

Abstract

The collection of rare species in the botanical garden of Almaty (Kazakhstan) consists of 36 species of rareplants. The Botanical garden is located in the foothill zone of the Zailiysky Alatau ridge, which is part of the Northern TienShan mountain system. A collection of rare and endemic species from the mountainous regions of the Northern, Western Tien Shan, and the Kazakh Altai was created, but most of their work was carried out in the mountains of the NorthernTien Shan. The largest species composition of the collection are groups of plants of the genera Tulipa – 25 %, Iris –14 %,Allium – 8.3 %. The largest ecological group in the collection of rare species is represented by ephemeroid geophytes. Introduction tests have shown that ephemeroid drought-resistant plants adapt best to the conditions of the foothill zone of theTrans-Ili Alatau. Xerophyte plants are short-lived, often suffer from the accumulation of snow in winter and the abundance of spring precipitation. Mesophytic plants are prone to drying out from lack of humidity and high air temperaturesin the summer.