Kaufmannia Semenova
Status: VU. Endemic, rare species.
Description. Perennial herbaceous plant up to 15 (20) - 30 (40) cm tall. Leaves are basal, long-stalked; leaf blades are round-kidney-shaped, lobed-toothed, hairy along the veins on both sides; stems are outwardly hairy, exceeding the leaves. The inflorescence is a clustered umbel, bracts are palmately ovate-wedge-shaped, with serrated edges on top; pedicels are glandular-hairy; the calyx is glandular-hairy, five-parted, with lanceolate lobes, shorter than the tube. The corolla is pale yellow, tubular-funnel-shaped; anthers and style extend beyond the corolla. The fruit is an ovate capsule.
Biological features. Blooms in May-June (July), fruits in July-August.
Distribution in general and in the country. Northern Tien Shan (Ketmen, Zailiyskiy, Kungei ridges). In Kyrgyzstan - Orto-Baisoron gorge, in the basin of the Chonaksuu River on the southern macroslope of the Kungei Ala-Too ridge.
Habitat. In rock crevices, on stones in the spruce forest belt.
Population. Small populations.
Limiting factors. Excessive recreational pressure: mass collection for bouquets. Cultivation. No data available.
Existing conservation measures. Included in the Red Book of the USSR (1978), Red Book of the USSR (1984), Red Book of the Kazakh SSR (1981).
Recommended conservation measures. Establish strict monitoring of the species population, preserve habitats, introduce into cultivation.
Semenov’s Kaufmannia
Semenov’s Kaufmannia
Kaufmannia semenovii (Herd.) Regel (Kaufmannia brachyanthera Losinsk)
Status: VU. This rare species is endemic to Northern Tien Shan (Transiliense and Ketmen Mountains in Kazakhstan and Kungei Ala-Too in Kyrgyzstan), and occurs in small numbers in the belt of spruce forest, where it populates rocky clefts. Only one population in the country is known, in the Orto-Baisoorun locality in the Tchon-Aksu River basin. Period of flowering: May - June (sometimes July, depending on the elevation), fruiting in July - August. There is no exact information about reproduction and numbers in nature as well as about cultivation. Limiting factors: excessive recreational influence on habitats, mass flower collection. The species is listed in the USSR Red Book (1978, 1984) and in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (1981). Conservation measures necessary for this species include monitoring of the population, protection of habitats, and introduction into cultivation.
