Morphological traits of Ferula foetida (Bunge) Regel. in the desert of Mangystau

Abstract

The morphological traits of growth in aboveground and underground organs of Ferula foetida found in Mangystau, depending on the age and place habitat of the plant, have been studied for the first time. A very high variability (up to 54-98%) of the great majority of the morphological traits, except for sizes of leaves of the 1st rosette and length of the main root before branching (12-26%), is noted for all the studied populations, which is explained by almost proportional participation in formation of composition of populations with species of different age. Meanwhile, variation of isomers in both, aboveground and underground parts within each age-grade declines by several-fold (<10%) and remains stable regardless of the living environment.