LILIES - RHS Lily Group

villages. These include Scilla sibirica, Paeonia tenuifolia, Tulipa gesneriana,
T. biebersteiniana.
As well as the wild bulbous plants, local people grow many introduced Liliaceous
and related plants. We observed and checked in private gardens several species
of tulips (Tulipa gesneriana, T. praestans Hoog), several species of lilies (Lilium
regale E.H. Wilson, L. lancifolium Thunb., L. bulbiferum L.)and other related
plants: Hemerocallis fulva (L.) L., H. lilio-asphodelus L., Hyacinthus orientalis L.,
Gladiolus x cultorum hort., Narcissus poeticus L., N. pseudonarcissus L. etc.
The introduction to the Khoper area takes place spontaneously and accidentally,
because scientific centres, such as botanical gardens, arboreta or specialized
nurseries are absent. As a result, the assortment of bulbs and other related
liliaceous plants is rather poor although Cossacks like to decorate their yards with
flowers. A severe climate is also a limiting factor and does not encourage further
introduction of more exotic species of bulbs which would not withstand the cold
winters without digging up which makes cultivation more difficult.
There is much to do
As it was mentioned earlier, the flora of the steppe of southern Russia is under
increasing threat from man. Due to intensive animal breeding and ploughing up of
virgin steppe for agriculture, as well as the complete forestation of sands in recent
decades, the number of threatened plant species has increased considerably.
At the same time the area of the lower reaches of the Khoper River differs
from many other steppe territories by the survival of primary virgin steppe. That
is why more than 35% of species included in the Red Data Book of the Volgograd
region occur here, this is a most special area for nature in the whole of the Lower
Volga region.
Botanically this territory is poorly investigated, and there are not many
specimens in the leading herbaria of Russia from this territory. Our field research
of the last years has enlarged our knowledge of this flora, and many herbarium
specimens have been collected (about 8,000 sheets). In 2005-2006 with the help
of a Rufford Small Grant (Project 41.01.05) four botanical expeditions at different
times of the growing season were organized to the place for the purpose of
examining the threatened flora and updating the general list of plants. At present
together with Prof. V.A. Sagalaev, we have been compiling the Flora of the Lower
Khoper Nature Park. Many species have not yet been introduced to cultivation,
which is an important task for the future. There is an urgent need to conserve
plants of the Russian steppe in their natural habitat and to protect them for future
generations. There hope that the Nature Park “Nizhnekhopersky” will play an
important role in the conservation of steppe plants and in educating people to
love nature.
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