At the 22nd World Orchid Conference held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Lobachevsky University was represented by Director of the Botanical Garden Alexander Shirokov and head of the laboratory at the UNN Institute of Biology and Biomedicine Lavr Kryukov who shared the results of their studies of the polymorphism of Cypripedium guttatum flowers in Russia.
The following forms of Cypripedium guttatum were first identified and described:
The existence of five forms with different coloring of the flowers characterizes the high level of intraspecific polymorphism. The most pronounced distinction of the forms "externemaculatum" and "semialbum" has been revealed by means of the analysis of morphometric indicators and the discriminant analysis. The form "guttatum" is the most common typical form in the populations studied. The "albastriatum" and "rubrasaccos" forms cannot be always clearly distinguished, however, when introduced into culture, it is possible to obtain cultivars with a more fixed coloring of the flower.
The research done by UNN scientists is of great importance for family taxonomy. It has been highly appreciated by the professional community. "Lobachevsky University was represented with honor thanks to your participation", commented Dr. Alec M. Pridgeon, Conference Chairman, Honorary Fellow at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Research results have been submitted to the Journal of Plant Research (Japan).
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