Centaurea solstitialis L.

Centaurea solstitialis L. 1753

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: 13 ; recordedBy: A. Sennikov & G. Lazkov ; Taxon: family: Asteraceae; genus: Centaurea; specificEpithet: solstitialis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: L.; Location: continent: Asia; country: Kyrgyzstan ; stateProvince: Jalal-Abad Region; locality: Fergana Range (its SW foothills), NW of Suzak Town ; verbatimElevation: 865; decimalLatitude: 40.937032 ; decimalLongitude: 72.889226 ; Identification: identifiedBy: G.A.Lazkov; dateIdentified: 15/08/2013; Event: eventDate: 15/08/2013 ; year: 2013; month: 8; day: 15; habitat: Red clay hills, open slopes with sparse vegetation, planted with Pistacia; fieldNumber: 280; eventRemarks: alien plant; Record Level: collectionID: 88420; institutionCode: FRU ; basisOfRecord: specimen

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: 14 ; recordedBy: M.Pimenov, E.Kluykov, G.Lazkov ; Taxon: family: Asteraceae; genus: Centaurea; specificEpithet: solstitialis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: L.; Location: continent: Asia; country: Kyrgyzstan ; stateProvince: Jalal-Abad Region; locality: At-Oinok Mts.: Kuerp-Say River ravine, by the mouth of the river ; decimalLatitude: 41.4921 ; decimalLongitude: 72.3356 ; Identification: identifiedBy: G.A.Lazkov; dateIdentified: 24/06/2000; Event: eventDate: 24/06/2000 ; year: 2000; month: 6; day: 24; habitat: S-exposed slope; eventRemarks: alien plant; Record Level: collectionID: 88420; institutionCode: FRU ; basisOfRecord: specimen

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: 15 ; recordedBy: M.Pimenov, E.Kluykov, G.Lazkov ; Taxon: family: Asteraceae; genus: Centaurea; specificEpithet: solstitialis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: L.; Location: continent: Asia; country: Kyrgyzstan ; stateProvince: Jalal-Abad Region; locality: At-Oinok Mts.: Kuerp-Say River ravine, by the mouth of the river ; decimalLatitude: 41.4921 ; decimalLongitude: 72.3356 ; Identification: identifiedBy: G.A.Lazkov; dateIdentified: 24/06/2000; Event: eventDate: 24/06/2000 ; year: 2000; month: 6; day: 24; habitat: S-exposed slope; eventRemarks: alien plant; Record Level: collectionID: 90565; institutionCode: LE ; basisOfRecord: specimen

Native distribution and occurrence in Central Asia

In Central Asia this species is native to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and (with a limited distribution) Uzbekistan. It occurs on dry gravelly and clayey slopes in lowlands and foothills, and is frequently found on arable lands and wastelands, in orchards, and along roadsides and artificial brooks ( Makhmedov 1993 ).

Occurrence in Kyrgyzstan

In Kyrgyzstan the only known population of this species, first recorded in 2000, had persisted in At-Oinok Mts. for a few years ( Lazkov 2001 ), but the plants have no longer been found recently (Lazkov, pers. obs.). This population was situated in a ravine that is known for, among other activities, historical cultivation of fruit crops that still survived there as old big trees of Morus alba L. and Juglans regia L., and a single thick-trunked liana of Vitis vinifera L. In 2013 we observed another population of a few dozens of individuals (Fig. 3) in the southwestern foothills of the Fergana Range, near Topurak-Bel Pass, where it occurred in a sparse vegetation of the hemisavannah type on the hills of red clay planted with pistachio trees close to an isolated homestead (Fig. 4). The hills were almost completely turned into a pistachio garden in the Soviet times; the trees are still in good condition and bear a plenty of fruits. No other alien plants were observed in the site.

From the sporadic and recent character of records (Fig. 8) we infer that the species is alien to the country, most likely transported with agricultural activities in the late Soviet times from the other countries of Central Asia.

Invasion status in Kyrgyzstan

Judging from the population size at the Topurak-Bel and its good seed set, this hardy annual is locally established in Kyrgyzstan. No spread is observed from the locality, and its future is uncertain.