Kostychev’s Pascueflower
Status: VU. A narrowly endemic and very beautiful plant, deserving attention for cultivation.
Description. A perennial plant. The rhizome is powerful, covered at the top with fibrous remnants of dead leaves. The plant is 12-26 cm tall, entirely covered with dense, soft, white hairs. The basal leaves are dissected into narrow, linear lobes 0.5—1.0 mm wide, the bracts are palmately multi-divided into very narrow entire or bifid lobes, the flowers are large, open, up to 6.5 cm in diameter, erect. The tepals are up to 3.2 cm long and up to 2 cm wide, the inner ones rounded, the outer ones with a pointed tip, pink, hairy on the outside. The stamens are three times shorter than the tepals, the filaments are purple, the anthers are violet. The fruits are 4 - 6 cm long with a flexible feathery awn.
Biological features. Blooms in June - July, fruits in July - August.
General distribution and in the country. Pamir (Balyandkiik gorge) and the ridges of the Pamir-Alai: Alai (southern slope), Zaalai, Peter the Great, and Darvaz. In Kyrgyzstan — Alai Valley.
Habitat. On rocky slopes, in the rocks of the middle and upper belts of the mountains.
Population. Not determined.
Limiting factors. No information available.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. No special conservation measures.
Recommended conservation measures. Organize a botanical reserve in the Alai Valley — a station for cultivation.
Kostychev’s Pascueflower
Kostychev’s Pascueflower
Pulsatilla kostyczewii (Korsh.) Juz.
Status: VU. This species is endemic to the Alai-Pamirs, a relic ornamental plant with a reducing area. It is found in stony soils with low-herb steppe vegetation in mid- and high-montane belts in the Alai Valley and the Alai, Trans-Alai, Peter the Great, Darvaz, and Balyandkiik Mountain Ranges, above 2,900 m above sea level. The number in nature is limited. Flowering period: June - July; fruiting in July - August; propagation is generative (by seeds). Limiting factors and data about cultivation are unknown. The Sary-Mogol botanical wildlife area (in the Alai Valley) was specially created for the preservation of this species. It is recommended to create an additional protected area covering territory with abundant populations, and a station for the experimental cultivation of Kostychev’s Pascueflower.
