Paradoxical Honeysuckle
Status: Category CR B2ab(iii). A relict endemic species with a disjunctive range.
Description. A low, sprawling shrub with xeromorphic appearance, up to 1.5 m tall, with gray, peeling bark on old branches; the shoots are shortened, young branches are yellow, densely and shortly pubescent. The leaves are small, elliptical with a wedge-shaped base, pinnately lobed or divided, the lower ones are entire on a short, glandular-hairy petiole. This is the only honeysuckle species with clearly lobed leaves. The flowers are paired, axillary, on a short glandular and hairy peduncle. The berries are spherical, free, red, with small seeds.
Biological features. Blooms in July-August, fruits in August-September. Reproduction is by seeds.
Distribution general and in the country. Previously, the species was quite widely distributed along the northern slopes of the Turkestan and Alai ranges (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan); currently, the range has disjunctions. In the Alai range (Kyrgyzstan), it is known only from the gorge of the Kök-Suu River above Kurban-Köl Lake; outside the republic, it has survived in the Turkestan range (in the gorge of the Min-Teke River in the eastern part and the Kusaylisay gorge in the central part), as well as in the Demiora gorge on the northern slope of the Zeravshan range.
Habitat. On large-stone fans at the foot of limestone cliffs and on stony-gravelly slopes, in shrub thickets, in meadow-steppe groupings, on slopes in sparse juniper forests, at altitudes of 2000-3000 m above sea level.
Population. Limited to four degrading small areas of growth. In the Alai range, from 1969 to 1973, the number of specimens decreased from 22 to 12, while in the Turkestan range there are 20 specimens. The total number does not exceed 30-40 bushes.
Limiting factors. Economic development of the growth area. Lack of seed regeneration. Used by the population for fuel.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. Listed in the Red Book of the USSR (1984) and in the Red Book of the Kyrgyz SSR (1985).
Recommended conservation measures. Study the biology, ecology, and current state of the species. Organize a nature reserve in the habitat, in the basin of Kurban-Köl Lake.
Ukmushtuu Shilbi
Paradoxical Honeysuckle
Lonicera paradoxa Pojark
Status: Category CR B2ab (iii). It is critically endangered, a very rare narrow-spread species, a tertiary relict shrub, one of 10 Kyrgyz congeners. The species has a disjunctive area and is distributed in the Alai Mountains (Kok-Suu River gorge, upstream of Kurban-Kol Lake) in Kyrgyzstan and in two localities in the territories of adjacent countries (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Turkestan and Zeravshan Mountain Ranges) only. These plants populate stony placers and slopes between shrubs at 2,000-3,000 m above sea level. The total world number of individuals is about 30-40. Period of flowering: May; reproduction is generative, but renewal and propagation by seeds in nature are almost absent. Limiting factors: very weak reproduction, economic development of lands in habitats, felling (firewood-cutting by people). The species is listed in the USSR Red Book and in the Red Book of Kyrgyzstan. Studies of ecology and the current state of the population, as well as the creation of a botanical wildlife area in the habitat near Kurban-Kol Lake, are urgently necessary for the species’ conservation.
