Growth and development of representatives of the genus Rosa L. in the Stavropol Botanical Garden

Relevance. To identify the features of the growth and development of species of roses of different geographical origin, to establish the biological minimum temperatures necessary for the beginning of flowering of representatives of the genus Rosa L., to study the morphological indicators of fruits.Methodology. The research material was 12 wild roses belonging to 4 sections: Canina Crep, Cinnamomeae DC, Luteae Crep, Pimpinellifoliae DC. The research was carried out using the methods of the Main Botanical Garden, floral and geographical analyses — according to Hrzhanovsky. A caliper was used to measure the length and diameter of 10 fruits. For the analysis of statistical data, the MS Excel table processor and the integrated MATLAB mathematical package were used.Results. The article presents the results of a study of species of roses in the Stavropol Botanical Garden of various geographical origin. The study involved 12 species belonging to 4 sections. The features of growth and development of plants in new soil and climatic conditions are revealed. The dates of the beginning of the main phenological phases andtheir duration have been established: spring regrowth of shoots, budding, beginning and end of flowering, fruiting. In the studied species of roses, the growing season begins in the first — second decade of March, flowering occurs in late May — early June, the fruits ripen in August — September. The dependence of the timing of the beginning of flowering in the studied roses on the dynamics of the accumulated average daily air temperatures and the sum of effective temperatures above 5 °C was revealed. Mathematically, it was proved that the lower limit of the air temperature required for the beginning of flowering of species of roses is +16 °C, when the sum of the average daily temperature air St° = 1007.75–1069.48 °С and St эф > 5 °С = 530.75–594.75 °С are accumulated. Early flowering species of roses include Rosa foetida Herrm., R. pendulina L., R. pimpinellifolia L., late flowering — R. caudata Baker and R. corymbifera Borkh. The shortest flowering period is in R. caudata Baker, R. jacutica Juz. and R. kamtschatica Vent. Representatives of those types mostly bloom once. Their flowers are formed on biennial and more mature shoots. The flowering period is 13–23 days. Rosa rugosa Thunb. blooms again, its flowering period is extended and long — from 40 to 48 days. All species of roses form fruits. The longest fruits are in R. pendulina L., R. caudata Baker, R. rugosa Thunb., R. corymbifera Borkh. and R. canina L., and large ones — in R. rugosa Thunb., R. marretii Lev. and R. roxburghi Tratt.

The Effective Pollination Period of European Plum (Prunus domestica L.) Cultivars in Western Norway

This study evaluated the effective pollination period (EPP) in four European plum (Prunus domestica L.) cultivars (‘Mallard’, ‘Edda’, ‘Jubileum’, and ‘Reeves’) during two years (2018–2019) under the environmental conditions in western Norway. The pollination of plum cultivars was carried out one, three, five, seven, and nine days after anthesis (DAA) with a pollen mix of two compatible cultivars (‘Victoria’ and ‘Opal’). Initial, middle-season, and final fruit set was recorded after one month and two months after pollination and just before the harvest, respectively. On average from both years cultivar ‘Jubileum’ had the highest fruit set when pollinated one, three, five, seven, and nine DAA (33.23%, 30.83%, 8.47%, 3.08%, and 1.15%, respectively), which was more than two folds higher fruit set than in the other studied cultivars. Cultivar ‘Jubileum’ showed significantly reduced fruit set between pollination on five and nine DAA, while cultivars ‘Mallard’, ‘Edda’, and ‘Reeves’ had markedly reduced fruit set if pollinated three to five DAA, implying that the EPP in ‘Jubileum’ was five days while in the rest it was three days. Variation of weather conditions during the flowering period in both years did not have a major effect on the receptivity of stigmas in the studied plum cultivars, which means that the existing differences in the length of EPP is maternal-genotype dependent.

Manipulation of Barley Development and Flowering Time by Exogenous Application of Plant Growth Regulators

Matching flowering time to the optimal flowering period in Mediterranean cropping zones is pivotal to maximize yield. Aside from variety selection and sowing date, growers have limited options to alter development in season. Plant hormones and growth regulators are used in perennial horticultural systems to manipulate development and floral initiation. In this study, a range of plant hormonal products were tested to analyze their effects on barley (Hordeum vulgare L) development by exogenous spray applications. Plants were grown in controlled conditions under long and short photoperiods with different vernalization treatments. The gibberellin (GA) products demonstrated the greatest potential for altering development. The GA inhibitor trinexapac-ethyl was able to delay the time to flowering in genetically divergent barley cultivars by up to 200 degree days under controlled conditions. A similar delay in flowering could be achieved via application at both early (GS13) and late (GS33) stages, with higher rates delaying flowering further. Notably, trinexapac-ethyl was able to extend the duration of pre-anthesis phases of development. By contrast, GA3 was unable to accelerate development under extreme short (8 h) or long (16 h) day lengths. There was also little evidence that GA3 could reproducibly accelerate development under intermediate 10–12 h day lengths. In addition, sprays of the cytokinin 6-benzyladenine (6-BA) were unable to reduce the vernalization requirement of the winter genotype Urambie. The present study provides baseline data for plant growth regulator treatments that delay cereal development. These treatments might be extended in field studies to align flowering of early sown crops to the optimal flowering period.

Kalanchoë Breeding: Past, Present and Future

Kalanchoë cultivars rank as one of the most sold potted ornamental plants in the world. Among its key features that sustain high market interest are the long flowering period, abundance of flowers, thick and glossy leaves, easy maintenance and less water requirement compared to other potted plants. In breeding studies of Kalanchoë, plants with different flower colors such as white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink and purple were developed. Moreover, double-flowered cultivars (comprising a large number of petals), more compact and cultivars with larger flowers were also obtained. Novel morphological characteristics are always in high demand in the market of ornamental plants. Increasing the variation in the gene pool with different species played a major role in the development of these characteristics. Nowadays, not only potted cultivars are launched but also cut flower cultivars have been developed and presented to consumers. Besides conventional breeding and interspecific hybridization, biotechnological methods, which have a promising future, are used to develop morphological characteristics of Kalanchoë.

DIVERSITY OF THE CLOSED-NESTED HONEY BEES (APIDAE: APIS SPP.) AND THE TRADITIONAL HONEY COLLECTING AND BEEKEEPING IN FOUR ISLANDS OF INDONESIA

The closed-nested honey bees are an important group that has been successfully bred traditionally and in a modern way. The traditional honey beekeeping practices are still favorable by local people living near natural habitats. Many rural areas in Indonesia are well known as producers of honey from the traditional honey collecting and traditional honey beekeeping of the closed-nested honey bees. However, there is limited information on the diversity of the honey bees that had supported the honey productions and their traditional honey beekeeping. This research was to provide an overview of the diversity of the honey bee species that are used in the wild honey collecting and their traditional honey beekeeping in four selected study sites in the islands of Java, Bawean, Kalimantan, and Peleng. We recorded three species of closed-nested native honey bees in the traditional honey collecting and traditional honey beekeeping, namely Apis cerana, A. koschevnikovi, and A. nigrocincta. We observed that traditional beekeeping of A. cerana was carried out in Tasikmalaya and Bawean Island, and that of A. cerana and A. koschevnikovi were carried out in Kayan Hilir. On Peleng Island, people do not do beekeeping but collect honey directly from the forest. Honey collecting and beekeeping practices are related to changes in the seasons of the flowering period in their habitats. The knowledge of the flowering period is needed to know the seasonal movement of honey bees from forest to village and vice versa.

Rapeseed as an Ornamental

Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is one of the most important oil crops worldwide. However, an intriguing new use for rapeseed has recently developed: as an ornamental. Tourism based on blossoming fields of these yellow flowers has become a new economic growth opportunity in China. From a breeding perspective, two main problems currently limit the potential of rapeseed as an ornamental. First, the flowering period is quite short (30 days on average), which limits economic income; second, the flower color in commercial cultivars is currently limited to bright yellow, which may pall quickly for sightseers. This review summarizes the possible problems of using rapeseed as an ornamental, and details factors affecting the flowering period, how the flowering period can be prolonged by integrating optimal cultivation measures or/and spraying with chemical reagents, and ways of creating and breeding rapeseed with diverse flower colors.

Annual plants in the floral design of the exhibition areas of the National Dendrological Park "Sofiyivka" of NAS of Ukraine

Aim. The National Dendrological Park "Sofiyivka" of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is an example of the tandem of nature and human creativity, where a significant place in the formation of landscapes belongs to floral design. It is one of the most colorful architectural and artistic elements of landscaping. The aim is to describe and to define the main features of flower beds of the Dendrological Park “Sofiyivka”, and to describe the range of annual plants used in flower arrangements. Methods. The study was conducted in the dendrological park during 2019-2021. Examples of flower design have been described according to the classification of flower beds by V. V. Pushkar. Latin names of plant species were given according to “The Plant List, 2013”. Results. The analysis of flower design in the dendrological park “Sofiyivka” using annual plants was carried out. The features of flower beds are clarified by: shape and location, duration of their existence, flowering period, location of plants in the vertical plane and the type of plant combination. Conclusions. Five exhibition areas in “Sofiyivka” park have been defined. They are decorated with 12 flower compositions. This floral design belongs to the landscape and regular type of planning.

Dependance of soybean yield on crop evapotranspiration, crop duration and rainfall

In the present study, data for four stations viz., Banswara, Bhopal, Parbhani and Rahuri for the years from 1990 to 1993 have been utilized to understand various aspects of evapotranspiration of the soybean crop. An attempt has also been made to find out the impact of rainfall and crop duration at different phases on the seed yield. The yield was found to be significantly correlated with the rainfall during vegetative phase. Crop growth duration exert positive effect on the soybean yield and that a longer flowering period is favourable for higher yields. The results also indicate that the soybean crop consume maximum water during the vegetative stage.

Monitoring the dynamics of the concentration of pollen of allergenic plants the purpose of prevention of polynosis in Ulyanovsk

The study of allergenic plants and their palynological complexes is of great importance for the prevention of pollinosis. Despite this, they are insufficiently studied in many countries of the world, including Russia. On the territory of the Ulyanovsk region, these studies were not carried out, although pollinosis occupy a leading place among allergic pathology. Studies have shown that the largest amount of pollen grains for the entire flowering period of allergenic plants is observed in the industrial zone. We can conclude that June and July are the most dangerous months for people with allergies. The most dangerous waves are the second and third, the least dangerous - the first. The research results must be taken into account when planning preventive measures and treating pollinosis. Key words: allergenic plants, hay fever, pollination, pollen concentration, pollen wave.