One of the representatives of cereal perennial plants is feather grass (photo can be seen in the article below).

There are about 80 species of feather grass in Russia, although there are many more around the globe - about 300.

Full description

The plant lives in desert and steppe areas. It is distinguished by an erect stem and narrow leaves located along it.

Membranous ears can reach 25mm in height. The spread of the grass occurs naturally, that is, the seeds are carried by the wind over quite long distances.

At night, with the appearance of dew, the feather grass closes. The spiral-shaped lower knee unfolds, bending the stem to the soil. This leads to the grain being screwed into the ground.

When the sun rises, it returns to its original state, but does not leave the ground. This is due to the presence of bristles on the grain, which cling to the soil surface.

Varieties

Grass has several types, each of which is worth considering in more detail.

1. feather grass

A perennial plant with bare shield-shaped leaves framed by a brush of hairs at the end. The height of the feathery awns can vary between 20-40 cm. Flowering occurs at the end of May - beginning of June.

1. Feather grass

The plant reaches 40-100cm. It is distinguished by greenish-gray, hard, tube-shaped leaves. The average length of the hairy awn is approximately 16 cm. The plant blooms in May-June.

1. Feather grass

This type of feather grass can be found exclusively in the steppes. The stems have pubescence under the nodes and grow from 30-80 cm. The leaves, framed by small long hairs, have a diameter of up to 0.2 cm when folded. The height of the awn does not exceed 45 cm. Flowering time May-June.

1. Far Eastern feather grass

Feather grass grows in the Far Eastern steppes, China, Eastern Siberia and Japan. This species differs from others in its height and grandeur. Its length can reach 1.8 m. The grass is erect, has openwork leaves with a shiny surface, the width of which is up to 3 m, and the height of the axes can be up to 0.5 m.

1. Feather grass is beautiful

The plant can be found in stony, steppe and rocky places in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia and western Siberia. The grass reaches a height of no more than 70 cm. It has dark green leaves and the length of the feathery spines is about 30 m. The feather hair is about 30 mm.

note: In ancient times, feather grass is surrounded by many superstitions. It is considered a symbol of loneliness. This is due to the fact that it was during its flowering period that many raids occurred, which entailed the death of men and the theft of children.

This is only a small part of the varieties that can be found in the vastness of Russia.

Growing with seeds

According to gardeners, it is better to propagate feather grass by dividing the bush. However, if this is not possible, there is the option of growing from seeds.

To increase the chances of seed germination, you need to stock up on soil. There are no special requirements for it, since the grass is quite unpretentious. Sowing is done in early March directly into cups or special containers. For each seed, it is worth selecting a separate container initially.

It is important to know: the plant has a vulnerable root system, so replanting can have a detrimental effect on it.

Seeds are planted at a shallow depth. With moderate soil moisture, you will be able to observe the first shoots within a few days. With the onset of warming (around the beginning of May), the feather grass is ready to be transplanted into open ground.

Rules of care

Feather grass is not picky about care, so it is enough to rid the soil around it of weeds. In addition, the plant calmly tolerates dry weather, so it does not require frequent watering and fertilizing.

It will take root well in a sunny area. To ensure successful grass growth, you can mix the soil with a small amount of lime.

Plants that are too dense can be divided in spring. This way you will make its flowering more spectacular and multiply the crop.

Since grass is a evergreens, the period of winter cold in middle lane impossible for him. To preserve the feather grass, it should be carefully transplanted into a container and moved to a room with a stable positive temperature.

Application in landscape

Natural beauty and pickiness allows you to grow feather grass on garden plots and flower beds, creating intricate compositions. A dense wall of grass looks great when combined with other grains.

The plant will be an excellent backdrop for wildflowers and will fit perfectly into rose gardens, highlighting the beauty and bright color of roses. If on your site there is an artificial pond framed, then the feather grass will look advantageous along the path leading to it.

Grass planted along the perimeter of the fence looks no less beautiful, filling all the gaps in the fence and creating the feeling of an enclosed space.

If you are planning to plant in your garden, do not ignore feather grass. It will add zest and, in combination with dwarf breeds coniferous trees.

Despite the fact that the plant is considered a steppe plant, it is loved by many gardeners and is successfully used by them in landscape design.

ABOUT beneficial properties feather feather grass, watch the following video:

Steppe plants are extremely diverse, but many of them have common characteristics. Among them are small, narrow leaves. In some species, they have the ability to curl up during drought to protect themselves from excessive evaporation of moisture. The color of the leaves is often grayish or bluish-green: the usual bright green foliage can rarely be found here. Steppe plants tolerate heat and lack of rain well.

According to various reference books, about 220 different plant species can be seen in the steppe. Many steppe plants have an extensive root system, allowing them to extract moisture from the ground. In the floodplains of flowing rivers you can find willows, and in those places where groundwater Other trees and shrubs also come close to the surface of the earth: hawthorn, Tatarian maple, blackthorn, etc. In places with saline soil, special steppe plants grow: salt marsh wormwood, kermek, sweda, and saltwort.

Unfriendly in most year, in early spring the steppe is transformed. At this time, before the start of the dry season, it is covered with a colorful carpet of early flowering plants: tulips, irises, hyacinths, crocuses, poppies. These steppe plants differ from cultivated varieties primarily in their smaller size. At the same time, their shape can be more bizarre - such as, for example, the Schrenck tulip, one of the ancestors of the cultivated varieties of this flower. Due to the plowing of the steppe, as well as the ruthless collection of flowers, this species is listed in the Red Book of Russia. steppe, as well as can have flowers of various shades, from yellow to purple. This species is also listed as endangered.

Before the heat sets in, the bright steppe flowers already have time to produce seeds. Their tubers store nutrients that will allow them to bloom next year. Now comes the turn of plants accustomed to drought: fescue, feather grass, wormwood. Fescue (Valis fescue) is an erect grass up to half a meter high. This plant serves as food for horses and small livestock and is one of the main pasture plants in the country (fescue is not suitable for harvesting for future use). Feather grass, a typical representative of the steppe flora - perennial grass, having a short rhizome and narrow, long leaves resembling a wire. There are about 400 species in this genus, some of which are protected. The main enemy of feather grass is uncontrolled grazing, during which this plant is simply trampled. As for wormwood, in the steppe, along with other plants, almost all of its species are found (more than 180 in total). Continuous wormwood thickets are usually formed by low varieties - for example, drooping wormwood, seaside wormwood and others.

Individual steppe plants (for example, kermek) after drying form the so-called tumbleweed. At the end of summer, a dried stem of kermek is torn from the roots by a gust of wind and rolls along the ground, scattering seeds along the way. Other stems and twigs can cling to it: the result is a rather impressive dry lump. Common Kermek blooms pink, purple or yellow small flowers. Based on it, many cultivated varieties have now been bred, which are widely used in landscape design. Species of the genus Sveda, small-leaved and creeping, widespread on saline soils, are, respectively, a small shrub and with reddening stems. They are readily eaten by camels. Like them, saltwort also serves as livestock feed in the autumn-winter season. Soda was previously extracted from its ashes.

All steppe plants have their own characteristics that allow them to survive in conditions of heat and lack of moisture. These include powerful roots, early flowering in certain species, narrow leaves, etc.

The most valuable plants, typical of the steppes, are white and medicinal sweet clover, Siberian sainfoin, strawberry, Siberian snakehead, tuber-bearing cornflower, steppe and creeping thyme, steppe sage, fragrant schizonepeta, catnip, Siberian cornflower, Altai aster, common khama, and onion.
Less valuable are Danish astragalus, sickle alfalfa, Ural licorice, speedwell, yellow scabiosa, and steppe carnation. Weak honey plants - Siberian pomegranate, Morison's gorichnik, Baikal gorichnik, lumbago, starodubka.

Siberian hogweed, Puchka, Pikan - Heracléum sibíricum. Herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family. Siberian hogweed, despite its name, is predominantly European look, common for everyone Central Russia. It is also distributed in Central Europe, Ciscaucasia and Western Siberia (in its southern part it reaches Altai). Found in Crimea, Kazakhstan (Dzhungar Alatau). It grows in damp places - in meadows, between bushes. It grows in meadows (especially flooded ones), along the banks of rivers and streams, forest edges, roadside meadows, and […]

Weed plant. The species infests all types of crops and is found in fallows, orchards and orchards, as well as along roads, along ditches, and in fallow lands. Contains white milky juice. Strong honey plant and pollen plant. It releases nectar only in the morning, because... After lunch the flowers close. Intensive honey collection up to 380 kg per hectare. The honey crystallizes quickly and is dark amber in color. The pollen is dark yellow.

A perennial herbaceous plant 30–90 cm high from the Asteraceae family. It grows in various meadows, clearings, meadow clearings, along roads in many regions of Russia. It is well visited by bees, which, under favorable weather conditions, collect a lot of nectar and pollen from it. Honey productivity in terms of continuous tracts is over 100 kg/ha. The pollen is yellow.

Perennial honey-bearing herbaceous plant. Sandy cinnamon grows mainly on sandy soils, in dry copses, forest glades, hills, on fallow lands, rocky and sandy slopes everywhere. The hard scales of the inflorescence wrapper do not wither and do not lose color even when the inflorescences are cut off - hence the name of the plant immortelle.

Mediocre honey plant. It blooms in June - September, the fruits ripen in August - September. A perennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family. It grows on sandy and loamy fresh and moist soils, in meadows, forest clearings, forest edges, in bushes, less often as a weed in crops. Prefers soils of average fertility and drainage.

A perennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family. It grows in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia, in Western Siberia. It grows in damp places, along the banks of rivers and mountain streams, in tall grass meadows, forest clearings and edges, and in thickets of bushes. Bad honey plant. There is no commercial honey from elecampane.

Perennial herbaceous plant. It grows on hillsides, in dry meadows, forest edges and clearings, on borders, in drier places. Distributed throughout forest areas. Honey plant, but provides bees with an insignificant collection of nectar. According to our personal observations, bees visit this honey plant in dry, hot weather. Honey is amber in color, very aromatic, has an aroma flowering plant. Crystallizes quickly […]

grassy perennial from the Crassulaceae family. Grows on dry grassy slopes. In dry bush thickets, in dry meadows, among rocky places. Good honey plant and pollen plant. Actively visited by bees and bumblebees. According to observations we made in the vicinity of the agro-biological station of the Uesuedi Pedagogical Institute, sedum flowers were visited by bees from morning to evening, collecting nectar and pollen. Nectar productivity of one flower [...]

Biennial herbaceous plant from the Apiaceae family. It grows near roads, in fields, in vegetable gardens, orchards. Secondary honey plant and pollen plant. Flowers are visited reluctantly by bees, but actively by flies. The nectar productivity of 100 flowers is 5.8-11.1 mg of sugar. Blooms in July-August.

Perennial herbaceous plant. Grows on the roadsides, like field weeds, cultivated plants. Good honey plant and pollen plant. The flowers are readily visited by bees, who collect pollen in the morning and nectar by midday. According to N.N. Kartoshova (1955), in the Tomsk region it produces from 1 hectare to 200-250 kg of nectar containing 35-40% sugar.

A perennial herbaceous plant from the Rosaceae family. Grows in mixed-grass meadows, on the edges of mixed forests, among shrub thickets. It is known that meadowsweet leaves contain large quantities vitamin C (370 mg/%). Therefore, young shoots and leaves are used in food for preparing salads, and the flowers are used to make tea.

Burnet - Sanguisorba officinalis L. Perennial herbaceous plant. Grows in oak forests, bushes and dry meadows. Small-flowered and ferruginous burnet also grow in the Far East - weak honey plants, but good pollen bearers. Appearance Up to 60 cm in height, from the Rosaceae family. Stems are erect, branched, heavily leafy, pubescent with hairs. The basal leaves are large, odd-pinnate, glabrous on top, [...]

The steppes are the main value for which the reserve was created. The steppes represented on its territory are classified as northern, or meadow. This means that they are located at the northern limit of the distribution of steppe vegetation.

Among other types of steppes, meadow steppes have suffered the most from human development. The main spaces once occupied by them turned into arable land. All surviving areas of meadow steppes in Eastern Europe lying on watersheds (plains) can now be counted on one hand. The Central Black Earth Reserve includes the largest of them - the Streletskaya (730 hectares) and Kozatskaya (720 hectares) steppes. Other more or less large surviving areas of the meadow steppes of Russia are the Yamskaya steppe of the Belogorye nature reserve (Belgorod region, 410 hectares), the Kuncherovskaya forest-steppe and Poperechenskaya steppe of the Privolzhskaya forest-steppe nature reserve (Penza region, together 450 hectares).

The Streletskaya and Cossack steppes represent the never-plowed (virgin) most typical meadow steppes in their best expression. These steppes avoided plowing due to the fact that since the 17th century they were in the communal use of archers and Cossacks and were intended only for haymaking and, partly, grazing. They have survived to this day because... in 1935 they became part of the Central Black Earth Reserve, created thanks to the efforts of Professor V.V. Alekhine, who made a huge contribution to the study of the steppes of the entire Central Black Earth Region and especially the Kursk region.

The conservation of steppe areas is not yet a complete solution to the problem of preserving their biodiversity. Meadow steppes retain their basic qualities only with the alienation of above-ground phytomass. The main role in this process in pre-agricultural times (before the start of agricultural development of the land by humans) was played by large herd ungulates that grazed in the steppes in significant quantities: wild horses - tarpans, saigas, aurochs. Large rodents such as gophers and marmots were found in abundance, as well as some herbivorous birds: bustards, bustards, etc. Steppe fires apparently played a significant role, destroying rags. Steppe vegetation in modern absolutely protected conditions, i.e. with complete non-interference of humans in the ongoing processes, it is gradually giving way to meadow, and the introduction of tree and shrub species is observed. The main reason for this is the intensive accumulation of rags and long-term non-decomposing litter, the so-called “steppe felt”. This is due to the absence of large phytophagous animals - consumers of green phytomass, which, dying annually, lies on the soil surface. Under the influence of litter, the temperature, water and light conditions of the upper soil horizons change. Under these new conditions, long-rhizome meadow species become more competitive, and steppe forbs gradually disappear from the grass stand; The structure of the vegetation cover changes, and species richness decreases. In order to avoid such undesirable changes, it is necessary to find a suitable replacement for the impact on the steppe grass that wild animals and steppe fires previously had. Such measures can be haymaking or grazing of domestic animals, or a combination of both: mowing and then grazing after the end. When choosing a conservation strategy, one must be guided by the goal of preserving maximum biodiversity. This goal is best achieved by combining different modes, when each of them makes its own contribution. Currently, the steppes of the reserve are maintained thanks to human activities: haymaking with different mowing times and different rotations and grazing of livestock with moderate load. The haymaking regime has options: annual mowing, hay rotation with a five-year rotation, when the area is mowed for four years in a row, and in the fifth year it “rests” to replenish the seed bank in the soil, hay rotation with a ten-year rotation and grazing after the end (nine years of mowing and rest on the tenth year). Immediately after the organization of the reserve, special experimental areas were also allocated - absolutely protected areas where there is no mowing or grazing. On the main area of ​​the flat steppe in the Central Chernozem Reserve, a hay rotation regime is used.

At the beginning of the 20th century, only mown variants of meadow steppes were represented on the plains of the Streletskaya and Cossack steppes. It was they who were proposed for conservation as having outstanding characteristics, which are now listed as the main “reference” for the northern steppes. Professor V.V. called it “Kursk botanical anomaly”. Alekhine these steppes.

The meadow steppes of the reserve are characterized by a rapid change of colors, outstanding species richness and richness of floristic composition, dense grass stand in which several species play a significant role, which is why these steppes are called polydominant. Many species of steppe plants grow here, which have become rare outside the reserve due to the destruction of their habitats and are included in the Red Book of the Kursk Region (2001). In the reserve, populations of these species are usually quite numerous and reliably preserved. The following rare steppe plants grow in the steppes of the Streletsky and Kozatsky areas: thin-leaved peony, pinnate feather grass, beautiful, narrow-leaved and pubescent-leaved, leafless iris, whitish hyacinth, Sumy cornflower, spring adonis, yellow flax, perennial, veined, purple kozelets, etc.

At the beginning of the last century, the steppes had a clearly expressed mixed-grass character, i.e. Dicotyledonous plants noticeably predominated in the grass stand, both in terms of their role in aspects and the number of species, as well as in terms of weight in the hay. Cereals also played a very large, but less noticeable role in the composition of the grass stand compared to forbs. Among the cereals, there was a predominance of species with more or less wide leaves, as well as a predominance of rhizomatous and loose-bush types (non-turf), which, combined with the abundance of dicotyledons, allowed V.V. Alekhine (1934, p. 28) called the northern steppes steppes of “colorful herbs with broad-leaved grasses.”

The northern steppes are characterized by a rapid change in physiognomic pictures (aspects) vegetation associated with the sequential flowering of different plant species, which represents one of distinctive properties meadow-steppe phytocenoses. In the meadows north of the forest-steppe zone and in the true steppes south of it, the colorfulness of herbaceous communities decreases. The change of aspects in the Streletskaya steppe was first described in 1907 by V.V. Alekhine (1909). Later, this description was included in many popular scientific, methodological, and reference publications to characterize the “classical” picture of colorful changes occurring in the vegetation of meadow steppes. “Such a change of phases is undoubtedly the result of adaptation of steppe plants in the sense of their placement in different parts of the growing season: each species found a certain place for itself, not being strongly constrained by others and competing less with them” (Alekhine, 1934, p. 23).

After the snow melts, which usually happens in the steppe at the end of March, the brown background of last year's grass dominates. In mid-April, the first flowering species begin to appear, the most noticeable being the open lumbago, or sleep-grass, with large purple flowers. Almost simultaneously with it, spring adonis, or adonis, blooms. This species is more abundant and, in combination with Siberian coarse grain, forms a bright golden-yellow aspect of the steppe by the beginning of May. Yellow tones continue to dominate in mid-May, but now thanks to the flowering of other species: spring primrose and Russian broom. By this time, the young grass is already growing well, creating a fresh green background. Against this background, by the end of May the yellow flowers bright white and purple spots of blooming wood anemone, milky white china and leafless iris come. At the beginning of June, the lilac-blue aspect of meadow sage and fine-leaved peas is established, and early grasses also bloom: pinnate and pubescent feather grass, downy sheep. By mid-June the picture becomes very motley, because... blooms at this time maximum amount species of forbs and most grasses. These are species such as mountain and alpine clover, common cornflower, purple kozel, elecampane, blood-red geranium, common meadowsweet, coastal brome, etc. Later, by the end of June, the predominant color will be pink - this is sandy sainfoin blooming en masse; The bedstraw with its yellow, honey-smelling inflorescences also plays a significant role. The grass stand reaches its greatest height and density, and the time for haymaking is approaching. Beginning in July, the steppe already noticeably fades, most species fade, and the rising grasses obscure the still remaining colors. However, some species only now, in the midst of summer, carry their flowering shoots high, which are clearly visible against the background of the becoming straw-colored steppe: Litvinov's larkspur with blue flowers, black hellebore with dark cherry flowers. In unmown areas of the steppe up to late autumn a straw-brownish background remains from dying shoots of cereals. In mowed areas, many species exhibit secondary flowering, some of the plants favorable years They even manage to produce a second harvest of seeds. More and more new flowering species can be observed until mid-October. Secondary flowering, however, cannot compare with normal flowering in terms of richness of colors and number of flowering plants.

Changes in colorful pictures can vary from year to year: there are “feather grass” years, when from mid-May to mid-June the steppe resembles a swaying silver sea, and there are years when the feather grass aspect is not expressed at all. Most other species also do not form well-defined aspects annually. The change in aspects over the years is associated, on the one hand, with fluctuations in meteorological conditions, and on the other, with the periodicity of flowering inherent in many herbaceous plants. By highlighting certain phases or aspects, we greatly simplify the observed phenomena. In fact, each phase contains dozens of flowering, fading and flowering plants, which overall creates an extremely complex picture. The steppe changes its appearance not only from day to day, but it does not remain unchanged during the day, because... some species open their inflorescences in the morning, and with the onset of the hottest time they close until the next day. These are, for example, plants such as purple goat and eastern salsify. Other species open their flowers for only a few hours, and then their petals fall off (perennial and veined flax).

In absolutely protected areas, the development of plants in the spring is noticeably delayed due to the large amount of dead plant residues, which contribute to the accumulation of a larger supply of snow, which later melts. The vegetation is significantly inferior in variety of colors and richness of colors to the mown areas of the steppe. Whole line species with bright flowers and large inflorescences avoid unmown areas; Here you can rarely find meadow sage, sandy sainfoin, purple goat, rouge and many other species that are common and abundant in the mown and grazed steppe.

Higher plants can be divided into biomorphs based on their characteristics general structure, frequency of fruiting and life expectancy: trees, shrubs, subshrubs and subshrubs, perennial herbs, annuals. In terms of the composition of the main biomorphs, meadow steppes are characterized by the predominance of perennial grasses capable of bearing fruit multiple times during their lifetime - these are polycarpics. Thus, among the main components of the grass stand in the Streletskaya steppe, their share is about 80%. Among them there are very few ephemeroids, i.e. plants that grow in a short time spring period bloom and bear fruit, after which their above-ground organs die, and bulbs or tubers remain in the soil: whitish hyacinth, Russian hazel grouse, goose onion blushing. Such rapid development of ephemeroids is an adaptation to have time to take advantage of the spring reserves of moisture in the soil before it begins to dry out; this life form is represented in the more southern variants of the steppes much more widely than in the meadows, where drought and heat are not so frequent. In second place are perennial and biennial herbs that bear fruit once in a lifetime and die off after that - these are monocarpics; they make up about 10% of the species composition of upland steppes. The role of ephemeral annuals is small both in the number of species and in abundance; found in small quantities are woolly krupka, northern breaker, and ferruginous gerbil and etc . Also, a small role is played by subshrubs and subshrubs, in which the lower parts of the stems do not die off in winter, these are plants such as Marshall thyme, some types of wormwood. In the plain steppe, the spread of trees and shrubs is inhibited by mowing. In the absence of mowing (pasture and absolutely reserved regimes), trees and shrubs are represented by a fairly large number of species, and some of them are very numerous (thorns, pears, apple trees, hawthorns, rose hips, etc.).

Steppes are open spaces where strong winds often blow. Under such conditions, dispersing fruits and seeds by wind is the most successful way to conquer new territories. In the forest-steppe zone, open areas of herbaceous vegetation are combined with tracts of forests and thickets of shrubs that prevent the long-distance spread of steppe plants, and among them there are not many species whose fruits are equipped with effective flying devices. Such plants are called anemochores; they primarily include feather grasses, the fruits of which (caryopsis) are equipped with long awns up to 40-50 cm. By the time of ripening, these awns become clearly feathery, due to which the fruits can be carried by the wind over distances of up to 100 m or more. A very interesting form of plants is tumbleweed; it is represented by a small number of species. In plants of this form, by the time the seeds ripen, the aerial part takes the shape of a ball, which breaks off at the root collar and rolls with the wind, spreading the seeds along the way. The most striking representative of this form in the Central Black Earth Reserve is the Tatar katran. The steppe slopes in the Bukreevy Barmy area, where it grows in significant abundance, during the period of its mass flowering are covered with large white balls and look as if a flock of sheep is grazing on them (Photo). Other representatives of this form are trinia multistem and common cutter. In many species, the flight properties of seeds or fruits are weakly expressed; the role of the wind is that it only shakes the stems of these plants and thus contributes to seeding. In this case, the seeds scatter from mother plant only tens of centimeters (Levina, 1956). The fruits of some species crack when ripening and drying, and the seeds are scattered around with force (fine-leaved peas, milky white peas, etc.); such plants are called autochores. The radius of expansion is also measured only in tens of centimeters or a few meters. The dispersal of seeds and fruits with the help of animals (zoochory) in the steppe apparently plays a subordinate role (Levina, 1965), which, however, increases with the introduction of woody plants with fruits edible for animals into the steppe; Myrmecochores are richer than others - plants whose fruits are taken away by ants (fragrant and rock violets, crested violet, nun).

Due to the high floristic richness, uniform distribution of many species and their great abundance, meadow steppes are characterized by extremely high species and specimen richness. Species or floristic saturation is the number of species in a certain area. V.V. Alekhine (1935) recorded up to 77 species of vascular plants per 1 m2 and up to 120 species per 100 m2 in the Streletskaya steppe. “Such richness of the Streletskaya steppe is absolutely exceptional and represents a kind of “vegetative Kursk anomaly” (Alekhine, 1934, p. 65). Later, censuses at meter sites carried out by V.N. Golubev (1962a) gave even more striking results. On the six surveyed meters, 87, 80, 61, 77, 80 and 84 species were recorded. Apparently, such a high species richness of vascular plants does not occur anywhere else in the temperate zone.

Trying to find an explanation for the “Kursk plant anomaly”, V.V. Alekhine wrote that “a connection may arise between the exceptional richness and antiquity of a given territory, because the Kursk steppes lie on the Central Russian Upland, which was not under the glacier” (1934, p. 65).

ON THE. Prozorovsky (1948), objecting to V.V. Alekhin, emphasized that the high species richness of the Kursk steppes is explained by a particularly favorable combination of climatic conditions in this zone, and not by the antiquity of the territory that did not experience glaciation, evidence of which is a gradual change in species richness in the eastern direction, which manifests itself both in the territory of the former and not been under a glacier.

G.I. Dokhman (1968, p. 97) believed that optimal hydrothermal and edaphic conditions of existence in the forest-steppe lead to maximum saturation of individuals, i.e. to high specimen saturation, and the high number of species per unit area “should be partly explained by the heterogeneity of the microenvironment, which provides the opportunity for the settlement of ecologically diverse plant species per unit area.”

A.M. Semenova-Tyan-Shanskaya (1966), who also noted that the species richness of meadow steppes and steppe meadows of the forest-steppe differs from all grass watershed communities of the Russian Plain, saw the reasons for this phenomenon in the variable nature of moisture, which explains the existence of small areas species different in their ecology: drought-resistant steppe, true meadow and forest-meadow mesophytes, as well as meadow-steppe plants in the broad sense that are most characteristic of the forest-steppe.

A.M. Krasnitsky (1983) explained the reasons for the signs of the botanical anomaly of the Streletskaya steppe by the regime of anthropogenic protection - mowing. However, mowing alone would not lead to such indicators in any natural conditions. The species richness of the Kursk meadow steppes, unique for the Holarctic, can apparently only be explained by a combination of the above-mentioned reasons: natural-historical, physical-geographical and anthropogenic.

Mowing weakens the competitive power of dominant species, because a significant part of the assimilating organs is alienated, this deprives them of their dominant position in intercepting light. After mowing, new ecological niches are formed, as a result of which such a large number of species of vascular plants can grow together in a small area, while the individual role of each species, even the dominant one, is not very high, i.e. the degree of dominance in mown meadow steppes is low, and most grass stands are characterized by polydominance; The projective coverage of dominants, as a rule, does not exceed 10-15, and more often it is at the level of 5-8%.

The richness of the floristic composition and high species richness of the upland meadow steppe entail a complex vertical structure. The herbaceous layer is characterized by high density; the soil uncovered by plants can only be seen by the emissions of mole rats or other smaller rodents. The projective cover of plants can reach 90-100%, on average no less than 70-80%. The herbage during the period of its maximum development (June - early August) is usually divided into several sublayers (different researchers have identified from 4 to 6 sublayers of the herbage). The layering changes during the growing season: it becomes more complex (the number of sublayers increases) from early spring to summer and becomes simpler in autumn. The highest sublayer, composed of coastal brome, tall ryegrass, rough cornflower, gilly grass, mealy mullein and other plants in a wet year exceeds 100 cm. The ground layer is typical, consisting mainly of one type of green moss - Tuidium spruceous, which can cover more than half of the surface soil.

The layering of the grass stand is accompanied by underground layering. Based on the depth of root penetration, all plants can be divided into three groups: shallow-rooted (up to 100 cm), medium-rooted (up to 200 cm) and deep-rooted (over 200 cm). It must be said that not all researchers share this point of view. There is also a directly opposite view: in meadow-steppe communities there is no real tiered structure in the underground parts of the communities.

The uppermost layer of soil, most densely intertwined with roots, forms a dense turf that protects the soil well from erosion. Total value The root layer reaches a record depth of 6 m, and possibly more (Golubev, 1962b). The exceptionally high depth of penetration of the roots of meadow steppe plants is determined by the properties of the soil: good aeration and porosity, sufficient moisture in the lower horizons, starting from 1.8 m, deep groundwater, absence of salinity, etc.

The total underground phytomass in meadow steppes exceeds the above-ground phytomass by 2-3 times, the bulk of the roots and rhizomes are located in a soil layer 0-50 cm deep. The yield of above-ground phytomass is subject to significant year-to-year fluctuations. In the total above-ground phytomass, green and dead parts (rags and litter) are distinguished. According to the results of long-term studies in the Streletskaya steppe, the green part of the above-ground phytomass ranged from 16 to 62 c/ha under hay rotation regime, averaging 32 c/ha, and the total above-ground phytomass - from 21 to 94 c/ha, on average - 49 c/ha. ha. Under an absolutely reserved regime, the green part of the above-ground phytomass ranged from 23 to 55 c/ha, averaging 37 c/ha, and the total above-ground phytomass - from 50 to 135 c/ha, on average 91 c/ha (Sobakinskikh, 2000) . Thus, under an absolutely protected regime, the total above-ground phytomass almost doubles, but this increase is mainly due to the dead part.

Over the past century, some changes have occurred in the vegetation of the Streletskaya steppe. A decrease in the participation in the structure of meadow steppe grass stands of a group of dicotyledonous plants, which determined the high colorfulness of meadow steppes at the beginning of the century, was noted. The abundance of broad-leaved grasses has increased significantly, among them the coastal brome still plays the largest role, but relatively recently tall ryegrass has penetrated into the upland steppes from meadows and forest edges and has gained a strong position; its generative shoots can reach a height of 1.3-1.5 m in wet summers. Poa angustifolia, downy sheep's grass, Syreyshchikov's bentgrass, hedgehog's grass, steppe and meadow timothy grass are quite abundant.

Of the large-turf grasses, the most characteristic and abundant is feathery feather grass; angustifolia and pubescent feather grass are less common; of the small-turf species - fescue, thin-legged comb.

In the first half of the last century, a special characteristic feature The meadow steppes were characterized by a high participation of low sedge, tufts of which were found on almost every square meter. V.V. Alekhine considered it an indispensable member of the northern steppes, even writing about meadow steppes with low sedge undergrowth. In the second half of the 20th century, its abundance and occurrence significantly decreased in the upland steppes.

The abundance of whitish hyacinth also decreases. If earlier it was mentioned that this species took part in the formation of aspects together with adonis and primrose, now it can be difficult to count several dozen flowering specimens per hectare.

All observers until the end of the 1980s noted the forget-me-not aspect of Popov. S.S. Levitsky (1968) wrote that the massive flowering of forget-me-nots sometimes gives some areas of the steppe such a bright blue color that from a distance these places can be mistaken for water spaces reflecting the azure sky. To date, this species has lost its role in the creation of the aspect and is now recorded in the steppe only in small numbers.

While some species are decreasing in abundance, others are increasing their abundance. We have already mentioned above the mass introduction of tall ryegrass, which in the first half of the twentieth century was completely uncharacteristic of grass stands of upland steppes. The second half of the 20th century in the Streletskaya steppe is characterized by the appearance in places of the Siberian grain aspect; before that it was known that it was rare in the steppe, only a few clumps were noted. Rough cornflower has also become more widespread.

The horizontal structure of the vegetation cover is complex; identifying individual communities (phytocenoses) in it presents serious difficulties, since herbaceous vegetation is characterized by a continuum, i.e. the smooth transition of one community to another, which is explained by the rather homogeneous environmental conditions on the flats, the richness of the species composition and the predominance of species with a wide ecological amplitude. However, on the other hand, meadow steppes are characterized by complexity, due to a well-developed microrelief and the complexity of the soil cover. On microelevations of various shapes, in a circumference of up to 1 m or more, with a height of up to 20-40 cm, as a rule, groups develop with a large participation of dry-loving (xerophilic) plants. In small, gentle, rounded depressions called saucers, more moisture-loving (mesophilic) species are more abundantly represented. The heterogeneity of vegetation cover is more noticeable under absolutely protected conditions. The mown steppe is characterized by a uniformly diffuse distribution of most plant species, which leads to a monotonous pattern in the vegetation cover, because mowing is a powerful leveling factor.

The classification of plant communities of meadow steppes is also associated with problems due to the rich species composition, polydominance, and the difficulty of distinguishing between meadow steppes and steppe meadows. Until recently, the ecological-phytocenotic approach to classification prevailed, mainly based on taking into account dominants. This led to the identification of a large number of small and inexpressive plant associations, often differing only in the ratio of abundances of the same dominant species, which can vary greatly not only from place to place, but also within the same community from year to year and even within one growing season.

Recently, the floristic approach has become increasingly used. Its use for classifying the vegetation of the Streletskaya steppe made it possible to classify all communities of the upland mowing part as one association (Averinova, 2005).

We can say that now the vegetation of the upland meadow steppes of the reserve is represented mainly by forb-broad-leaved grass communities with a significant participation of dense turf grasses and legumes. Among the forbs, the following species are especially abundant: spring adonis, spring primrose, multifloral buttercup, green strawberry, meadowsweet, meadow sage, Kaufmann's grass, rough cornflower, true bedstraw, common cutter, mountain gourd, etc. Of the legumes, the most noticeable role is played by: clover mountain and alpine, thin-leaved peas, sandy sainfoin, etc.

Meadow-steppe vegetation is represented not only on the plains of the Streletskaya and Cossack steppes, but also on the slopes of lairs (gulls) of predominantly southern exposure, where it often has a more steppe character than the plain steppe itself due to the greater aridity of such habitats. On the southern slopes one can find plant groups that include species that are not found in the upland conditions of these areas and are more xerophilic in nature. The vegetation no longer forms a continuous cover; in places the subsoil is exposed. Mainly associated with the southern slopes are drooping sage and feather grass, as well as crescent grass, Russian Echinops, white broomrape, Siberian istod, chamomile aster, tall and some other plants. It is on the southern slopes that the presence of thickets of steppe shrubs, the so-called dereznyaks, is typical, consisting mainly of steppe cherry, low almond, called bobovnik, blackthorn, less often meadowsweet (spirea) Litvinov, and some types of rose hips. At the beginning of May, when the sloe and almond trees bloom at the same time, some slopes become very picturesque thanks to the combination of white, pink and green flowers. The wolfberry itself (caragana shrub), from which the name of these thickets comes, is currently found on the territory of the reserve only in the Barkalovka section. On the northern slopes, phytocenoses contain many mesophilic species and the vegetation is close to meadow. Outside the Central Chernozem Reserve, remnants of steppe vegetation are still preserved precisely on the slopes of ravines and along the steep banks of rivers, i.e. in places inconvenient for plowing.

Meadow-steppe vegetation can be restored in place of arable land if there are favorable conditions for this: the proximity of virgin steppes, which act as sources of seeds, suitable terrain and soil, and the use of haymaking. There are positive examples of such restoration in several areas of the reserve, but this is a slow process. If a steppe ecosystem can be destroyed in a matter of hours by plowing, it will take decades for nature to recover. Thus, on the Kozatsky site there is an old 70-year-old deposit “Far Field” with an area of ​​290 hectares. On its mown areas, the vegetation is currently represented by meadow-steppe communities, which in their properties and appearance are close to virgin steppes. However, even after such a long period of time, experts note some differences between these restored communities and those that were not subject to destructive anthropogenic impacts. In that part of the “Far Field” deposit, where the regime of absolute conservation was practiced, areas of steppe vegetation with well-developed feather grass communities have also been restored, but a significant introduction of shrubs and trees, meadow and even forest species. At the Bukreevy Barmy site, a 40-year-old deposit with an area of ​​20 hectares is an example of the relatively rapid and successful restoration of feather grass steppes on southern-facing slopes with Cretaceous deposits close to the surface. In such drier conditions, the total phytomass decreases, a less significant layer of litter is formed, and the feather feather grass gains an advantage in comparison with the more mesophilic broad-leaved grasses that predominate on the flats (coastal and awnless brome, tall ryegrass, meadow timothy, etc.).

Where there are no suitable conditions for the natural restoration of the steppe, steppe vegetation can be recreated using specially developed methods. The Zorinsky site became part of the Central Chernobyl Plant in 1998; More than 200 hectares of it were occupied by former arable land, which by the time the reserve was organized was gradually overgrown with weeds and meadow vegetation, and part of the land was still used for arable land. The possibilities of restoring steppe vegetation here naturally were very limited, because very few areas have survived where they grew steppe species, and the set of these species was rather poor.

To create more favorable conditions restoration of steppe vegetation on fallow lands and arable land in 1999, the staff of the reserve conducted an experiment on 6 hectares on the restoration of steppes using a grass-seed mixture from the virgin Streletskaya steppe. This mixture was prepared by mowing different areas at several times, so that seeds of species that ripen in different time, and then introduced into the experimental area. This recovery method was developed by D.S. Dzybov and received the name of the agrosteppe method.

Over the years since the experiment, specimens of more than 80 species of plants have been discovered, about which there is reason to say that they appeared from the introduced material, including 46 species noted on the experimental area that were not previously part of the local flora, of which 23 species - these are rare steppe plants from the Red Book list of the Kursk region (2001). Species such as coastal brome, slender-legged comb, perennial flax, and sandy sainfoin have become quite widespread in the experimental area, blooming and bearing fruit well. The first specimens of feather grass began to enter the generative phase in 2002; to date, there are hundreds of fruiting turfs of feather grass and feather grass.

Overall, we assess the results of this experiment as modest, because It was not possible to achieve close similarity of the reconstructed communities with those represented in the Streletskaya steppe. If in the future steppe species become established in the plant communities of the Zorinsky site, become their significant components and spread far beyond the experimental area, then the experiment will be justified.

In 2010, on the Streletsky site, on an area of ​​7 hectares of a former potato field, a new experiment was launched to recreate meadow-steppe vegetation: wide-row sowing of several species of feathery feather grass was carried out on half of the field; In the future, it is planned to sow the row spacing with seeds of steppe forbs. This method was developed by V.I. Danilov and is used to restore the historical appearance of the Kulikovo Field landscape in the Tula region. In the second half, the agrosteppe method will be applied again.

The text was prepared by Ph.D. T.D. Filatova

The steppe zone is characterized by a flat landscape and a complete absence of trees. Therefore, the flora is represented mainly by herbs. In the temperate zone of Eurasia, grasses (varieties of feather grass, bluegrass, wheatgrass, legumes) and bulbous plants grow. Shrubs are occasionally found. A thick turf layer formed by the interweaving of grass rhizomes, as well as the duration of dry periods and lack of moisture, prevent the germination of tree seeds.

A video about the steppes of Ukraine will help you get a more complete impression of the nature of the steppe zone of Eurasia.

In spring, the temperate steppe amazes with a riot of colors: plants of the bulbous family bloom beautifully.

Feather grass is the most common steppe plant of the grass family, forming a turf layer. Ripened seeds, thanks to the awn covered with a white edge attached to them, fly over long distances.

The “gray” fields of flowering feather grass, a typical steppe plant, look very unusual.

The most typical representative of the steppe can rightfully be considered wheatgrass. This perennial herb has a very dense, tough rhizome, which forms numerous shoots and penetrates even dry soil. The height of wheatgrass in a favorable period reaches 1 m in height; during the flowering period the plant throws out an ear.

In the east of North America there are grassland prairies, which are characterized by rich stands of grass, heavily turfed soil and instability of alternating drought and rainfall. The Great Plains are similar to the Eurasian steppes and are rich in tall grasses. The following plants grow here: feather grass, Gerardi's bearded grass, Grama grass, phlox, dicotyledons, asters. In the west, the prairies are drier, so the vast majority of plants are low-growing cereals, wormwood, bulbous plants, and in the southern regions - cacti.

It is a turfgrass that grows as a bush, its roots helping to form turf. The height of the plant reaches 2.5 m in height, the leaf width is up to 1 cm. It is very decorative, painted in orange or dark red colors in the autumn.

Pampas in South America, in effect low level average annual precipitation, have more sparse vegetation. Grass-sedge grass stands, alfalfa, barley, and succulents, one of the subspecies of which are cacti, are typical for them.