Background: The Flora of Central Asia is extremely rich, with about 9800 species of vascular plants. Uzbekistan, with over 4500 species, has a central position in the region, and is regarded as one of the main centers of medicinal plants diversity, in particular because of its high percentage of local endemism. About 600 species of medicinal plants have been documented in Uzbekistan for the treatment of numerous diseases, many of them endemic. These plants are still used for the medicinal traits in industrial scale as well as by local tabibs (local practitioner). Methods:During research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tabibs, elders and herders with experience in healing by using medicinal plants. During expedition visits, herbarium material and samples of medicines from vegetative raw materials were collected. Collected materials were determined using local floristic monographs and herbarium vouchers.Results: During fieldwork, we recorded 117 medicinal plants belonging to 45 families and 94 genera, used widely for the treatment of various diseases. Traditional practitioners prepared the plants mostly as extract, decoction, powder, bathing and sometimes used them fresh. Extract and decoction were generally preferred, and the preparations were normally made fresh just before use. Some of the encountered plants are now also used by private entrepreneurs for the production of herbal medicines for various purposes. Conclusions:Our results show that despite the achievements of modern allopathic medicine, the population in Uzbekistan continues to actively use wild medicinal plants for health purposes. The wide availability of medicinal plants, low costs, and perceived efficacy contribute to popularization of traditional medicine.

Впервые в условиях интродукции выявлены оптимальные сроки посадки лекарственного и эндемичного растения Средней Азии Ferula tadshikorum из семейства Apiaceae Lindl. Результаты проведенного эксперимента подтвердили, что как у большинства интродуцированных растений, у Ferula tadshikorum наблюдается ускорение темпов развития. Принимая во внимание длительность естественного возраста Ferula tadshikorum, укорачивание его жизненного цикла при культивировании имеет положительный экономический эффект для быстрого получения сырья из подземных органов.

For the first time, the morphological and anatomical structures of the leaves of different age individuals of the medicinal and rare species F. tadshikorum were studied in Tashkent Botanical Garden. Currently, natural populations of the species are in decline, and for the preservation and production of medicinal raw materials, research on the ex situ development conditions is needed. According to the results, adaptive responses to new habitat conditions in the anatomical structures of the vegetative organs were found. Plants of juvenile and immature development stages retained the the mesophyll's isolateral-palisade type, but differed in other quantitative and qualitative indicators of leaf tissues. Immature plants of the second year of life with more developed leaves showed modifications in the anatomical structure of the leaves, with powerfully developed vascular bundles, mechanical tissue, secretory ducts, as well as the presence of deep fibers both above the phloem of peripheral bundles, and also above the phloem of the central bundles of the petiole.

The leaf epidermis was studied in individuals of different ages (juvenile plants of 1st year, immature plants of 1st year and 2nd years of life) Ferula tadshikorum of the family Apiaceae, grown in the conditions of the Tashkent Botanical Garden. The leaves are amphistomatic in the studied individuals of different ages. Plants are characterized by the presence of three types of stomata: anomocytic, hemiparacytic and paracytic, which are simultaneously present on both leaf surfaces. The anomocytic type of stomata is the dominant type. Diagnostic signs of the studied individual’s leaves of different ages are the number of epidermal cells and stomata per unit area, the size of cells and stomata, as well as indicators of the stomatal index. Immature plants 2nd years of life have the highest indicator in terms of the number of stomata and epidermal cells per 1 mm2 on the adaxial side of the leaf. The outlines of the anticlinal walls of the epidermal cells of the leaf on both abaxial and adaxial surfaces in all individuals are rectilinearly rounded. The conducted research shows that despite the new growing conditions, ancestral mesophilic signs remain in plants at the initial stages of development (juvenile individuals), however, already in the second year of vegetation, the appearance of xeromorphic signs is observed in immature plants 2nd years.

The article considers the synflorescence structure of five little-studied and endemic representatives ofUmbelliferae (Apiaceae Lindl.) from Central Asia. Among the taxa studied, Komarovia anisosperma is distinguished bya special organization of the inflorescence, and which is represented by the type of storey raceme from open double umbels collected 2–6 in whorls. The remaining species are characterized by one type of inflorescence – this is a panicle ofclosed double umbels. Belonging to the same tribe Komarovieae J. Zhou et S. R. Downie, species Komarovia anisosperma and Sphaerosciadium denaense, have some similar features in the structure of the synflorescence. So, the first specieshas 5 lateral axes of the I order around the main axis assembled in whorls, while in the second species they are locatedwith a whorl under the central umbel , in addition, both species do not have involucres and involucels. The revealedfeatures of branching of the inflorescence and flower arrangement, signs of involucres and involucels, the length of therays of the umbels and pedicels, as well as the characteristic of the formation of various types of flowers in the umbeland synflorescence can be used in keys and diagnoses, and also for the conservation of rare and endemic species, forthe collection of made seeds from plants in natural conditions with further introduction to the botanical gardens or onthe protected areas.