Olga’s Sorbaria
Status: CR B2ab(iii). A rare narrow-endemic species of the Alai Mountain Range. Decorative.
Description. A summer-green shrub with bare branches, pinnate leaves 10 - 20 cm long with sharp linear stipules, consisting of 15 - 19 leaflets. Leaflets are ovate-lanceolate, 2.3 - 5 cm long, 0.8 - 2.3 cm wide, with a doubly serrated edge, rounded or slightly narrowed at the base, sharp or slightly elongated at the top, glabrous on top, with single simple hairs along the veins on the underside. The inflorescence is 15 - 25 cm long and 8 - 15 cm wide, glabrous. The leaflets are glabrous, 2 - 3 cm long, and deflected.
Biological features. Not studied. Blooms in May, fruits in July.
Distribution in general and in the country. Northern slope of the Alai Mountain Range, near the village of Shakhimardan. Habitats: slopes of the gorge.
Population. The species was first found in 1871, and since then it has not been successfully located in multiple surveys.
Limiting factors. No information available.
Cultivation. No information available.
Existing conservation measures. It was placed under state protection in accordance with a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR in 1975. Included in the Red Book of the Kyrgyz SSR (1985).
Recommended conservation measures. Determine the current status of the species. Thoroughly survey the area of former habitat, and if the species is found, establish a nature reserve.
Olga’s Sorbaria
Sorbaria olgae Zinserl
Status: Critically endangered (CR B2ab (iii)). It is a narrow-endemic shrub species of the Alai Mountain Range, known only from a unique find in 1871 in the vicinity of Shakhimardan at an altitude of about 1,000 m above sea level. The habitat is a mixed forest (Juniper and deciduous trees), flowering period: May; data on ecology, propagation, population numbers in nature, and cultivation are absent. Excessive pasturage is presumably a limiting factor. This plant is included in the list of endangered and protected species by a special Governmental Decree of the Kyrgyz SSR in 1975. Currently, it is necessary to continue attempts to rediscover this species, study the current population status, and create a protected area if it still exists.