32 Crupina Vulgaris Cass. (Asteraceae)
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CRUPINA VULGARIS CASS. (ASTERACEAE) IN THE FLORA OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA Olga Ionița, Elena Tofan-Dorofeev Botanical Garden (Institute) of Academy of Sciences of Moldova Keywords: flora of the Republic of Moldova, Crupina vulgaris, Asteraceae The genusCrupina (Pers.) Cass. includes 2 species, widespread in South and South-East Europe, the southern part of Central Asia and North Africa, Southwest Asia [8]. In the wild flora of the Republic of Moldova, the genus Crupina (Pers.) Cass. is represented by a single species – Crupina vulgaris Cass., a rare species in the studied territory. In the Republic of Moldova, it has been found in the extreme south, on the steep slopes of Prut River bank and hills with steppe vegetation, near the communes Giurgiulești, Câșlița-Prut, Slobozia Mare, Vadul- lui-Isac and Manta, district Cahul, in the steppe sectors near the villages Ciumai and Dermenji, district Taraclia, as well as in the glades with steppe vegetation from the Quercus pubescens Willd. stands near the commune Copanca, district Căușeni. Abroad, it is widespread in South-East Europe, the Mediterranean region, Asia Minor and the Caucasus. Crupina vulgaris is an annual plant, grows as a component of herbaceous phytocoenoses, dominated by gramineae, and is found solitarily or in small groups of 2-4 plants. It flowers in May-June; the fruits ripen in June-July. It reproduces by seed. It is a xeromesophilous, oligotrophic species. It is a Pontic- Mediterranean element [1]. In Europe and in the neighbouring countries of the Republic of Moldova: Ukraine and Romania, Crupina vulgaris is more common. In the local flora, however, analyzing the bibliographic data and the herbaria, we have found that this taxon was noted and classified as a rare species [6, 7]. In the last two decades, it has been included in the List of Rare Species of the Wild Flora of the Republic of Moldova [5] and in the Preliminary Red List of Vascular Plants of the Flora of the Republic of Moldova [2]. During the field research, carried out in 2011-2016, it was found that this species formed very poor populations with a small number of plants, and in some areas, it survived only due to the limited access of people. This species is endangered because of the degradation of steppe sectors, the reduction of habitat area, the limited distribution of the species and the mowing before fruit ripening. The risk of extinction of this species has been assessed in accordance with the criteria developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature [3, 4]. Thus,Crupina vulgaris has been included in the category endangered species [EN]. The conservation of this species makes it necessary to take some measures, such as: its inclusion in the List of Species Protected by the State, monitoring of the populations, as well as the protection of the areas where the species grows, the determination and protection of new areas where it may spread, the ex-situ conservation and propagation of plants and their return to natural habitats. The first attempts to cultivate and propagate this species in the ex-situ conditions, in the Botanical Garden of ASM, have demonstrated that Crupina vulgaris grows and develops well in artificial conditions, goes through all the ontogenetic stages, has a more vigorous habit than in-situ. The seeds are viable for many years, the germination rate of 4-year-old seeds is 86% and of 7-year-old seeds – 20%. The need for a detailed research on the bio-ecological features and the propagation of the species Crupina vulgaris and the changes in the population dynamics is still relevant, in order to elucidate the real factors that limit the propagation of the species and the expansion of the populations in natural habitats. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Ciocârlan V. Flora ilustrată a României. Bucureşti, 2009. p. 832. 2. Ghendov V., Izverskaia T., Shabanova G. Pre-Identified Red List of vascular plants in the flora of Republic of Moldova. In: Revista Botanică. 2012, nr. 1 (5), p. 41-52. 3. IUCN. Guidelines for application of UICN Red List Criteria at Regional Levels: Version 3.0. UICN Species Survival Commission. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 2003. 4. IUCN. UICN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. UICN Species Survival Commission. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 2001. 5. Negru A. ş. a. Speciile rare din flora spontană a Republicii Moldova. In: Culegerea art. şt. “Biodiversitatea vegetală a Republicii Moldova”, Chişinău, 2001, p. 37-55. 6. Negru A. ş. a. Plantele rare din flora spontană a Republicii Moldova. Chişinău, 2002. 198 p. 7. Негру А. Crupina vulgaris Cass. В: Растительный мир Молдавии. Растения степей, известняковых склонов и сорные. Кишинэу, 1989, т. V. с. 51-52. 8. Черепанов С. Род Crupina (Pers.) Cass. В: Флора европейской части СССР. Под ред. Н. Цвелева. Санкт-Петербург: Наука, 1994, т. 9. c. 289. 32.