Rhodiola litwinowii
Status: LC. A mosaic-distributed species, intensively used in agriculture.
Description. A perennial herbaceous plant. The root is thick, up to 2 cm wide at the top, with a powerful, multi-headed rhizome and a small number of old stems, covered at the top with membranous, triangular-ovate leaves. The stems are numerous, 10-17 cm tall, straight, and fairly leafy. The leaves are alternate, flat, 1-1.5 cm long, 0.3-0.5 cm wide, elliptical, blunt with a wedge-shaped base, with blunt deep, unequal teeth, entire towards the base. The inflorescence is multi-flowered, dense, and leafy. The flowers are 5-4 parted, dioecious; the pedicels are equal to or shorter than the flowers; the sepals are lanceolate and blunt; the petals are lanceolate; the stamens exceed the petals with rounded yellow anthers. The fruits have a thread-like long beak.
Biological features. It blooms in June-July, fruits in July-August. Reproduction is by seeds.
General distribution and in the country. Mongolia, Dzhungaria, Kashgaria. Tian Shan: Kyrgyz, Talas, Chatkal, Fergana Ranges; Pamir-Alai: Alai, Turkestan.
Habitat. On stony-gravelly soils and screes, near glaciers, at passes in the upper mountain belt.
Population. Decreasing.
Limiting factors. Economic activity.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. No special conservation measures have been developed.
Recommended conservation measures. Assessing the population status and organizing general conservation measures.
Litvinov’s Rosewort
Litvinov’s Rosewort
Rhodiola litwinowii Boriss.
Status: LC. It is a rare species mosaic-distributed in Alai-Pamirs, Tien Shan, Kashgaria, Dzhungaria, and Mongolia. This plant has economic importance. In Kyrgyzstan, it sporadically occurs in Talas, Alexander, Chatkal, Fergana, Turkestan, and Alai Mountain Ranges, on stony and metal slopes and screes in the upper montane belt, nearby glaciers and at passes. The number in nature is decreasing. Flowering period: June - July, fruiting in July - August; propagation is generative (by seeds). Data about cultivation are absent. The limiting factor is human economic activity. There are no elaborated methods for the species’ protection, but there are suggested common protection routines and studies of specific status in different populations.