Chaeto-fruited Sweet Broom
Status: EN. A relic endemic species found in walnut-fruit forests.
Description. A perennial herbaceous plant up to 60 cm tall with bare stems and fused stipules. The leaves are 3-8 pairs, elongated or elliptical, up to 45 mm long and up to 22 mm wide. The inflorescence is a dense, asymmetrical raceme with 20-30 flowers. The calyx is much shorter than the corolla, which is up to 22 mm long, pink-lilac in color, and the pod consists of 3-5 segments. The surface of the fruits is transversely ribbed, covered with short, thin bristles. There are individuals whose bristles on the fruits are not developed.
Biological features. Flowers in June, fruits in July-August. Propagates by seeds.
Distribution in general and in the country. Chatkal, Uzun-Akhmat, Fergana, and Alai mountain ranges (Achin, G. Avin forestry, Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve, the basin of the Kara-Shoro River, near the waterfall in Arslanbob).
Growing conditions. Walnut and other broadleaf forests, shrubs, tall herb meadows, extends into the subalpine zone.
Population. Found very rarely in groups, mostly solitary. Once widely distributed.
Limiting factors. Anthropogenic impact on forest areas, haymaking. Cultivation. No data available.
Existing conservation measures. No special conservation measures developed; included in the Red Book of the Kyrgyz SSR.
Recommended conservation measures. Monitoring of population numbers, clarifying the range, organizing botanical reserves in areas of highest population concentration. Introduction into cultivation.
Chaeto-fruited Sweet Broom
Hedysarum chaitocarpum Regel et Schmalh
Status: EN. It is a relic species, mosaic-distributed in the Chatkal and Fergana Mountain Ranges, endemic to Kyrgyzstan, ornamental plant. At present, a sharp reduction in the specific area of distribution is recorded. These plants occur as single specimens and sometimes in small groups, in walnut and fruit forests, among shrubs, in tall-herb meadows, and in the lower zone of the subalpine belt. Period of flowering: June, fruiting in July - August; propagation is generative (by seeds). Data about cultivation are absent, number in nature is limited. Limiting factors: general anthropogenic influence and haying. This plant is included in the Red Book of the country; there are protected habitats in the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve of Biosphere. It is recommended to survey populations and areas, to create additional botanical wildlife areas, and to introduce it into culture.
