A species in the family Asteraceae, Saussurea bogedaensis, was newly described from Bogeda Mountain in Xinjiang, China and is a critically endangered species in China. Morphological and genetic characteristics confirm the presence of this species in Mongolia, as it was found in Baitag Bogd Mountain (in the Dzungarian Gobi). In addition, the distribution and conservation status of S. bogedaensis are provided.

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Ferula ferulaeoides is a highly valuable medicinal plant native to Mongolia. In vitro seed germination effi ciency of F. ferulaeoides was low, and it required cold stratifi cation for longer than 21 days and exogenous application of the hormone gibberellic acid (GA3) for germination. Cotyledons, hypocotyls and roots of two week old seedlings were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with diff erent auxins including 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), napthalene acetic acid (NAA) and indole-acetic acid (IAA) and cytokinin 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP). This experiment showed that combination of BAP (0.5 mg/L) and auxins IAA and 2, 4 D was the most effi cient media for callus initiation from in vitro germinated seedling explants. Callus was sub-cultured with 4 weeks interval on the same media as callus initiation for a long term maintenance.

<i>Saussurea dorogostaiskii</i> Palib. (Asteraceae) is a critically endangered medicinal plant in Mongolia and Russia. We studied the genetic variation of <i>S. dorogostaiskii</i> from three mountains of northern Mongolia. The genetic profile was assessed in 70 individuals from eight populations using five inter-simple sequence repeat markers, producing 53 loci with 96.4% polymorphism across all bands. Shannon’s index (<i>I</i>) and Nei’s gene diversity (<i>H</i>) value at the species level of <i>S. dorogostaiskii</i> are 0.25 and 0.17, respectively. An AMOVA showed high genetic variation among the populations (22% of populations and 32% of mountains), consistent with the high genetic differentiation (<i>G_ST</i> = 0.49) and low gene flow (<i>N_m</i> = 0.51) in <i>S. dorogostaiskii</i> populations. Eight populations were clustered into two groups, corresponding to their geographic locations. The low within-population genetic diversity and high genetic differentiation among <i>S. dorogostaiskii</i> populations factor into their endangered designation. This genetic analysis reveals that all populations are equally threatened, and community-based conservation is appropriate for these species.

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