Drought resistance parameters of some representatives of the genus Tilia L. during introduction and in urban plantations

Abstract

Abstract. Drought resistance of plants is the key to successful cultivation of new taxa under climatic conditions. Linden is a valuable ornamental, melliferous and medicinal woody plant, often used for landscaping certain areas. The purpose is the determination of indicators of drought resistance of some species and varieties of lindens from the collection of the South Ural Botanical Garden-Institute of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the conditions of introduction and urban environment. Methods. The objects of research were 3 species, 1 cultivar and 1 form of the linden collection (Tilia cordata Mill., T. caucasica Rupr., T. × europaea L. f. vitifolia (Host) V. Engl., T. platyphyllos Scop. ‘Aurea’, T. taquetii C. K. Schneid.), as well as specimens of Tilia cordata from urban plantations in Ufa. The total water content, water-holding capacity and the amount of mobile moisture in the leaves are found according to generally accepted methods. Results. The indicators of drought resistance of linden species and cultivars under the conditions of introduction and the urban environment have been determined. It has been established that almost all taxa are sufficiently drought-resistant in the climatic conditions of Ufa. The maximum indicators of water content and water-holding capacity, as well as the minimum amount of mobile moisture, were found in the variety T. platyphyllos ‘Aurea’ from the collection of the botanical garden (70.2 %, 30.7 %, 39.4 %, respectively). It has been confirmed that T. cordata from urban greenery tolerates technogenic loads well; some indicators of drought resistance of this species are higher than in the botanical garden. T. taquetii turned out to be the least drought-resistant of all the taxa studied, which is probably due to sharp differences in the climatic conditions of natural origin from the conditions of introduction. Scientific novelty. For the first time for the city of Ufa, comparative studies of the drought resistance of some representatives of the genus Tilia under the conditions of introduction and the urban environment were carried out.