FORMATION OF BULBOUS AND BULBOTUBERIFEROUS FLOWER CROPS GENETIC COLLECTION IN THE SUBTROPICAL SCIENTIFIC CENTRE OF RAS

For many years, the needs for flower products in the Russian Federation were covered by imports from abroad. Sochi Agricultural and Horticultural Experimental Station (now Federal Research Centre the Subtropical Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was entrusted to solve the issues of industrial floriculture. Since the early 1960s, many flower crops collections, including bulbous and bulbotuberiferous, began to be formed, introduction studies were conducted; later breeding was also added. The first crops which the collection included were tulip, narcissus, freesia, crocus, hyacinth, gladiolus, lily, ixia, tuberose, and wandflower. For the three main ones (tulip, narcissus, freesia), research continued all the years, the collection was regularly replenished. In the 1970s, research was begun on hippeastrum, Spanish iris, muscari, nerine, and onion. In the 1980s – amaryllis, reticulated iris, red spider lily, Amazon lily. The largest number of new genera was introduced in the 1990s. – 13 (autumn crocus, snowflake, grape hyacinth, yellow star of Bethlehem, adder's-tongue, tassel hyacinth, sea daffodil, snowdrop, scilla, ornithogalum, striped squill, fritillaria, sternbergia). During these years, in addition to the introduced species, the collections began to be replenished with cultivars of their own selection. In the 2000s, four new genera were attracted (lily-of-the-Nile, summer hyacinth, snake's-head iris, zephyr lily), in 2011–2020 – six (candelabra flower, rain lily, paintbrush, bluebell, wild garlic, fire lily). In 2021–2023, the collection was replenished with five new genera (cluster-lily, Ismene, springstar, giant crinum lily, montbretia). Over the history of bulbous and bulbotuberiferous flower crops collection formed in FRC SSC of RAS (from 1961 to 2023), 1 330 cultivar samples were attracted to it. The most fruitful period in the formation of the collection was from 1961 to 1970, when it was replenished with 376 cultivars. For more than 60 years, representatives of 47 genera from five families were attracted to the collection: Colchicaceae, Liliaceae, Iridaceae, Asparagaceae, Amaryllidaceae. Currently, the collection includes cultivars belonging to 29 genera of bulbous and bulbotuberiferous flower crops.