Alai Bubblefish / Alai Physocline / Alai Physochlaina
Alai Bubblewort
Status: VU. A rare narrowly endemic species.
Description. A perennial plant with deeply penetrating, brittle roots up to 2 m long. The stems are numerous, erect, with sparse hairs and glandular, reaching up to 50 cm in height. Leaves are 6-10 cm long, 4-7 cm wide, broadly ovate, conical at the base, with long petioles. The upper side of the leaves is almost glabrous, while the underside, along the main vein, is sparsely hairy, broadly ovate, with rounded tips and conical bases, entire or shallowly toothed, on long petioles. The leaf blade is 6-10 cm long and 4-7 cm wide. The inflorescence is head-like and racemose. Flowers are dirty cream-colored with dark spots. The calyx is glandular-hairy, leathery when fruiting. The corolla is 12-16 mm long, dirty cream-colored, with dark spots. The stamens are equal in length to the corolla lobes, with filaments hairy at the base. The capsule is 10-12 mm long and 8 mm in diameter. Seeds are yellowish, kidney-shaped, with one side depressed.
Biological features. It reproduces by seeds. It blooms in May-June; fruits ripen at the end of July.
General distribution and in the country. Turkestan and Alai mountain ranges (in the valleys of the Isfara, Sokh, and Shakhimardan rivers) - Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Habitat. Grows in the shade of rocks, under shrubs, in open glades in juniper forests. Population. Very insignificant.
Limiting factors. Overgrazing by livestock during uncontrolled grazing, destruction during pasture improvement.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. No special conservation measures have been developed. In 1981, it was included in the Red Book of the Kyrgyz SSR.
Recommended conservation measures. To protect populations, create botanical reserves in the Selik and Kichik localities.
Alai Physochlaina
Physochlaina alaica E. Korot
Status: VU. This plant is endemic to the North-eastern Alai-Pamirs, a rare narrowly located and endangered species. The species was found in the Sokh and Shakhimardan River valleys, populating open glades between juniper forests, under shrubs, and in the shade of rocks. Period of flowering: May - June, fruiting at the end of July, propagation is generative (by seeds), introduction into culture in Kyrgyzstan has still been unsuccessful. The number in nature is insignificant. Limiting factors: uncontrollable pasturage (destruction by cattle trampling) and melioration. No special methods for preservation have been elaborated, despite its inclusion in the Red Book of the country in 1981. It is recommended to create botanical wildlife areas in the Selik and Kichik localities.
