Kosopolyan Turkestan / Turkestan Kosopoljanskia
Kosopoljanskaya Turkestanian
Status: VU. One of the two endemic species of this genus found in Kyrgyzstan.
Description. A perennial plant with a taproot, cylindrical, the neck covered with brown scales, remnants of dead basal leaves. Stems are solitary or in groups of 2-3, branching from the base, glabrous, bluish, 40 - 60 cm tall. Leaves are mainly basal, short-petioled, their blades elongated in shape, twice pinnately dissected, primary lobes linear, lobules spatulate, stem leaves with reduced blades, with sheaths. Umbels have 10 - 18 flowers, and the umbellules have 15 flowers, with bracts and involucral bracts. Flowers of the lateral umbels are often sterile. Fruits are ovoid, eight-angled, splitting into 2 semi-fruits at maturity, glabrous.
Biological features. Flowers in June, fruits in July. Propagation is by seeds.
Distribution general and in the country. Found in Kyrgyzstan in the upper reaches of the Talas River, in the Ortok-Too mountains, Utch-Bulak, on the Alai ridge (Ak-Buura River valley) and in the Inner Tien Shan (Jumgal River valley near the confluence with the Kokomeren River).
Habitat. On dry schistose screes, rocky-silty and conglomerate slopes, on mottled saline clays.
Population. No data available.
Limiting factors. It is possible that mature fruits are washed away by rainwater and end up in unfavorable conditions - in hot foothills and valleys.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. Listed in the Red Book of the USSR (1978); Red Book of the Kazakh SSR (1981); Red Book of the Kyrgyz SSR (1985).
Recommended conservation measures. Creation of botanical reserves in the gorges with the highest concentration of the population. Search for new locations.
Turkestan Kosopoljanskia
Turkestan Kosopoljanskia
Kosopoljanskia turkestanica Korovin
Status: VU. This mosaic-distributed species is one of two representatives of the genus which is sub-endemic for Kyrgyzstan. These perennial plants in Kyrgyzstan were recorded in the upper part of the Talas River basin, in Ortok-Too and Utch-Bulak, in the Alai Mountains (Ak-Buura Ravine) and in Inner Tien Shan (near the junction of Kokomeren and Jumgal Rivers), where they were found at dry schistose screes, stony and silty-soil and conglomerate slopes, and salted mottled clay. Period of flowering: June, fruiting in July; propagation is generative (by seeds) only. Data about number in nature and cultivation are absent. Possible limiting factor is the washing away by rainwaters, from specific habitat to the piedmont zone with unsuitable torrid conditions. This species is listed in the Red Books of the USSR, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Search for new populations and creation of botanical wildlife areas in sites with abundant populations are necessary to conserve the species.
