Introduction

Currently, the issue of preserving biodiversity in our country and in the world as a whole is becoming more and more pressing. Anthropogenic impact and natural disasters lead to large environmental losses. And first of all, this affects the change in the species composition of plant communities and the disappearance of rare plants. In this course work we will talk about the biological features and significance of ephemera and ephemeroids, as well as those ephemeroids that have been subject to anthropogenic impact and are now under protection. Ephemera and ephemeroids are plants whose growing season is 1.5-2 months.

To date, a small number of works have been devoted to the study of Belarusian ephemera, which in turn allows us to conclude that they have not been fully considered. One of the main reasons for choosing this topic is that most ephemera and some ephemeroids are listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus and are protected. To preserve these species, it is necessary to study their biological characteristics, as well as the factors leading to their extinction.

Relevance of this topic course work It also lies in the fact that the information presented in it and the results obtained in the future can be used in further study of the flora of a particular region of our country or the flora of Belarus in general, as well as for the development of measures aimed at protecting specific populations of endangered plant species.

Ephemera and ephemeroids, being early spring flowers, play an important role in the composition of plant communities. Depositing ash elements in the form of organic matter, they help improve soil fertility.

Studying the characteristics of the life activity of ephemerals and ephemeroids will allow us to develop a system of measures to protect them in natural habitats, and knowing the biological significance of ephemerals, it will be possible to use them more effectively beneficial features for a person.

Thus, object of our study are the ephemera and ephemeroids of the Mozyr Ravines landscape reserve.

Subject research - species diversity of ephemerals and ephemeroids.

Purpose of the work: to study the biological characteristics of ephemerals and ephemeroids of the Mozyr Ravines landscape reserve; obtaining information about the habitats of these species in the reserve.

Research objectives:

1. To study the species composition of ephemerals and ephemeroids on the territory of the Mozyr Ravines landscape reserve.

2. Study the features of the development cycle of ephemeroids using the example of Haller's corydalis.

3. Identify rare and endangered species of ephemerals and ephemeroids in the territory of the Mozyr Ravines landscape reserve.

Literature review

General characteristics of ephemera and ephemeroids

Currently, a group of early flowering plants - ephemerals and ephemeroids - is of great interest for study.

Ephemera are annual herbaceous plants, the development cycle of which is completed in a short time (from 2-6 weeks to 2 months) before the onset of a drier period. They usually grow in deserts and steppes. Basically, ephemerals develop in the autumn-winter-spring period, more often in spring or autumn. These plants die completely in dry weather in the summer. The development of winter ephemerals begins in autumn. The duration of germination, the life span of plants, and their size are determined by meteorological conditions. Thus, due to heavy rainfall, ephemerals can reach a height of 25-30 cm, and some cruciferous plants - 50 cm. A characteristic feature of ephemerals is their unique adaptability to fluctuations in environmental conditions.

According to some classifications, ephemerals and ephemeroids are classified as mesophytes, according to others - to the group of xerophytes. But more often botanists consider them as a separate group of plants.

Typical representatives are spring speedwell (Veronika verna), spring stonefly (Erophila verna).

It should be noted that among ephemera there are also weeds. During one growing season, they are capable of producing several generations and heavily weeding fields and crops.

A typical representative of this group is the average chickweed (Snellaria media), which has a very weak branched stem lying on the ground or slightly rising. Chickweed is a malicious weed that clogs all fields, but it causes particular harm to row crops and vegetable crops. The growing season of this plant is about 40 days. Average chickweed produces 15-25 thousand seeds, which last for 5-8 years in the soil. Seeds germinate well from a depth of up to 3 cm. When the soil is loosened and precipitation falls, chickweed seedlings appear throughout the summer.

Some ephemera are listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus, the collection of which is prohibited and punishable by penalties.

Ephemeroids are perennial herbaceous plants, which are characterized by autumn-winter-spring vegetation. Aboveground shoots die off during the summer period, and the underground part remains in the form of bulbs, tubers, and rhizomes. These include spring guillemot (Ficaria verna), goose lutea (Gagea lutea), forest lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis), Corydalis (Corydalis Halleri), spring bud (Orobus vernus).

I would like to introduce you to another early flowering plant. Not everyone knows it. This forest grass is too inconspicuous. However, Ozhika pilosa is a true early flowering plant, a primrose. After all, it blooms at the very beginning of spring, as soon as the snow melts. Simultaneously with lungwort, corydalis, coltsfoot.

We will most likely pass by the hairy beetle without noticing. This grass is small, no higher than ten to fifteen centimeters. And there are no bright, attention-grabbing flowers. He doesn't need them. After all, the plant is pollinated by the wind.

Ozhika hairy usually grows in coniferous forests - pine and spruce forests, often on the edges. Here are my photos of the hairy beetle taken at the edge of a pine forest. The soils here are poor, with increased acidity. But they suit the crowd - there are fewer competitors.

This perennial forest plant with a short rhizome grows in the forests of Europe, European Russia, and southern Siberia.

Most of all, the hairy gooseberry resembles some kind of cereal. Or, rather, on sedge. But it is neither one nor the other. Belongs to the rush family.

But the similarity between the hairy plant and grasses and sedges lies only in the fact that its leaves are narrow and long. However, the leaf of the ozhika is also lanceolate - at the base it is very narrow, then it widens a little, and at the end it is pointed.

But the most important difference between the leaves of Ozhika pilosa gave the plant its specific name. Looking closely, we will see that at the base the leaf is densely braided with long white hairs. The same, but sparser, hairs always grow along the edge of the leaf.

In all plants that have leaves with hairs, this “hairiness” serves approximately the same purpose: to protect the leaf from the cold and reduce water evaporation. Cold water is poorly absorbed by the roots. Evaporating it too actively will cause the plant to dry out. Our ozhika is no exception.

It overwinters under snow with green leaves. And in early spring, when the snow melts, you find yourself in rather harsh conditions. At this time and during the day, temperatures are often low. And at night frosts are generally possible, which could destroy the hedgehog. If only these hairs didn't help!

And they help a lot. After all, already in April the zhika begins to bloom. It depends on you, but to me the inflorescence of Ozhika pilosa most resembles a small frozen “fireworks”. In fact, flower stalks “scatter” from one point at the top of the stem, and at the end of each a small star blooms - a flower.

At the end of May - beginning of June, the fruits of Ozhika pilosa are already ripening - greenish oval boxes the size of a grain of millet. Each contains three seeds. When the fruit is opened, the seeds will simply spill out onto the ground. And then the ants find them and take them away. After all, every seed has a treat for the ants - a fleshy, juicy appendage.

The fact that the appendage is eaten by ants will not affect the germination of the seed. And the seeds from the anthill will be thrown out by its clean owners, like garbage. And they will sprout. Or they will lie for years and wait for favorable conditions for germination. Ozhika seeds do not lose their germination capacity for many years.

Noble liverwort

Copper, blue snowdrop, noble liverwort, Hepatica nobilis. One of the most beautiful forest primroses. The liverwort prefers to grow in the forest, and is more often found in shady spruce forests than in deciduous forests. The scientific Russian name is just a translation of the international Latin one. In turn, Hepatica is named for its leaves - they are heart-shaped at the base, three-lobed, and shaped like... a human liver. This fact was interpreted by medieval healers as a sign that the plant could be used to treat liver diseases! And they treated it... Modern studies do not confirm the medicinal value of the plant. Local names, in my opinion, are both more pleasant and more accurate. Copse - because he prefers to live in the forest. Blue snowdrop - why not call this a plant that blooms as soon as the snow melts?

Liverwort is a perennial evergreen herbaceous plant of the Ranunculaceae family. A powerful rhizome develops in the soil, from which numerous thin roots emerge, and leaves and flowering shoots grow from the buds. Basal foxes on long petioles, dark green, leathery. The plant retains them not only all summer, but also all winter under the snow, remaining green (albeit faded). And only after flowering the old leaves die off and the plant appears new ones. Young leaves have petioles and undersides covered with numerous dense hairs, which help retain heat during spring frosts.

Having settled in a new place, the liverwort does not bloom for several years, but only throws out leaves. And only in the sixth year the plant blooms. The flowers are solitary, sitting on pubescent peduncles. They are very small in size. And the whole plant is small - from 5 to 15 cm. But in a gloomy spruce forest, the flowers may seem quite bright. It would seem that the plant has both a corolla of blue petals and a cup of green sepals. In fact, the perianth of the coppice liverwort is simple and consists of colored leaves. Usually there are no more than ten. The tepals are most often blue, sometimes pinkish and very rarely white. And what can be mistaken for a cup are the top three leaves. They grow on a stem near the flower itself and form a so-called veil. These leaves are greatly reduced and really resemble sepals. However, their origin is completely different, and they develop precisely as stem leaves, and not part of the flower.

Just don’t tear up the copse for a bouquet! Firstly, it is pointless - soon the flower will wither. Secondly, these collections have already led to the fact that the liverwort has become a very rare plant in the forest! So rare that it is listed in the Red Books of a number of European countries. And in many regions of Russia it has been declared a rare protected plant.

Siberian Scilla

(lat. Scilla siberica) is a perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, ephemeroid, species of the Scilla genus. Previously, this genus was classified as belonging to the Liliaceae or Hyacinthaceae families; according to modern ideas, this genus belongs to the Asparagaceae family

The species' range covers Eastern Europe (including the European part of Russia), the Caucasus, and Western Asia (Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran). As a naturalized plant, it is found in many other regions of the world, including North America. It is found mostly in deciduous forests, especially on the edges and in thickets of bushes.

Perennial herbaceous bulbous plant. It develops as an ephemeroid: the growing season lasts from the moment the snow melts until May; after the fruits ripen, the plants wither.

The leaves are broad-linear, basal, in number from two to four; at the tip they are pulled together into a cap: they fully develop before flowering begins. There are several flowering shoots, their height ranges from 10 to 20 cm, each bearing several flowers.

The flowers are actinomorphic, with a simple corolla-shaped perianth with six free leaflets, the color of which can range from bright blue to violet-blue. Flowering time is March-April. Fruiting time is May. The fruit is a capsule.

Chistyak spring

Common names: butterflower, early lettuce, poisonous leaf, toadwort, millet, pshinka, hare's lettuce, hare's lettuce, chickweed, chickweed.
Pharmacy name: chistyak herb - Ranunculi ficariae herba.
This is one of the most noticeable spring plants. In early spring leaves of a basal rosette develop from fleshy pineal tubers

The spring clear belongs to the ranunculaceae family. This is a perennial plant that prefers moist soils, usually growing near streams, rivers, puddles, ditches, in damp meadows and in damp deciduous forests.

Active ingredients. Caustic substances characteristic of buttercups - protoanemonin and, accordingly, anemonin - are contained in small quantities in the chistyak. But it contains vitamin C and saponins.

Healing action and application. Due to the fact that chistyak is one of the first spring plants containing vitamin C, it has long been used as a so-called blood-purifying spring salad.

Use in folk medicine. In spring, fresh chistyaka grass is used in folk medicine as a salad to replenish vitamin C deficiency, or the juice is squeezed out of it, which is then mixed with milk and taken with spoons. In folk medicine, chistyak also plays an important role as an independent medicine during courses of treatment to cleanse the blood. Tea from the dried plant is given against skin diseases.

Side effects. Since the fresh plant contains some of the caustic substances characteristic of buttercups, avoid overdose, otherwise irritation of the stomach, intestines and kidneys may occur. Chistyak tea is less dangerous because when dried, caustic substances are destroyed and become harmless.

Ephemera and ephemeroids are plants with a short period of above-ground development and a long period of dormancy; these are mainly spring plants that manage to bloom, produce seeds and finish the growing season in 2-3 months. Ephemerals are annuals, ephemeroids are bulbous or rhizomatous perennials. Of the ephemerals, I can only name spring grains, ephemeroids - all sorts of anemones, woodlands, snowdrops, goose onions, crocuses, etc.

Ephemera include herbaceous annual plants that have a short growing season. The full cycle of their life activity occurs in a very short period of time at high environmental humidity - from 2 weeks to six months. These plants make up the majority of the vegetation cover of areas with arid climates - deserts, semi-deserts and steppes (up to 60% of species). The vegetation of the African continent consists of 90% ephemerals.
Basically, ephemerals develop in the autumn-winter-spring period, more often in spring or autumn. These plants die completely in dry weather in the summer. The development of winter ephemerals begins in autumn. Meteorological conditions determine the duration of germination, the lifespan of plants, and their size. A characteristic feature of ephemerals is their unique adaptability to fluctuations in environmental conditions.
Most ephemerals have small above-ground and underground parts. Classic Features These plants have no xerophytes. The stems of these plants are not branched, the leaves are small, and the root system is poorly developed. The small leaves of ephemerals are of low density; photosynthesis proceeds intensively, due to which assimilates quickly accumulate in the leaves during a short wet period. An interesting example is that of some species of angiosperms and desert ferns of South Africa, which dry out to an air-dry substance during drought and remain in this form for up to five years. And when precipitation falls, they are able to completely restore their vital functions.
Ephemeral seeds are heat-resistant and drought-resistant, their dormant period corresponds to the summer season. Seeds of spring species germinate in spring, and winter species - in autumn.
Ephemerals include many representatives of the families of cruciferous plants, grasses, buttercups, legumes, etc. Examples of ephemerals found in Russia are spring stonefly, crescent hornwort, oak grouse, northern alyssum, desert alyssum, and African malcolmia.
In nature there are plants classified by botanists as ephemeroids. They are characterized by the fact that during the dry period only above-ground shoots die off.
According to some classifications, ephemerals and ephemeroids are classified as mesophytes, according to others - to the group of xerophytes. But more often, botanists consider them as a separate group of plants.

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Distributed in a strip of dark coniferous forests from the Arctic part of Europe to Western Sayan, Japan. An isolated area of ​​the range is located on the southern coast of Lake Baikal and the northern foothills and slopes of the range. Khamar-Daban.

Grows in dark coniferous and mixed forests, along river valleys. It rises to the highlands, where it lives in subalpine and nival meadows. It develops very quickly, blooms early, immediately after the snow melts, in late April - early May. The seeds ripen in the first ten days of June. It reproduces by seeds, germinates at the end of August and overwinters, sprouting in the spring of next year.

SEM. VIOLET –YIOLACEAE

1.5 Single-flowered violet.

A perennial herbaceous plant from 2 to 30 cm in height, the leaves are heart-shaped, the upper ones are ovate and long-pointed. The flowers are bright yellow, with dark veins, large, petals are about 20 mm long.

Distributed in the forest zone and areas of low-mountain taiga, along the banks of rivers and streams. Blooms in April – May.

SEM. PRIMICOLORS –PRIMULACEAE

1.6. Primrose cupnocup

A perennial herbaceous plant with a thick rhizome bearing numerous root lobes and up to 10 or more rosettes of leaves. Some or all of the rosettes bear leafless peduncles. The number of leaves in the rosette, including the small ones that die off early, is 8-13. True leaves reach full development during the fruiting period, together with petioles 22-36 cm long. and 5-9 cm wide. Their plates are oblong-ovate, bare above, with very short hairs below, finely toothed along the edge, sharply narrowed at the base into a winged petiole equal in length. Peduncles are 23-38 cm long, reaching 28-47 cm when fruiting, with a simple umbrella of 6-20 flowers inclined to one side. Pedicels of different lengths. Sometimes a daughter umbrella is developed on one of them. The flowers are bright yellow, 19.5-25 mm long, with a long tube and a concave cup-shaped limb. Its lobes are notched at the apex, with an orange spot in the throat. The calyx is wide (6.5-8.5 mm), the corolla tube occupies only its central part. The capsule is almost half as long as the calyx, oval, widened in the upper part, opening with denticles at the apex.

It blooms in May-June, the seeds ripen at different times from late July to mid-August.

SEM. Borage -BORAGINACEAE

1.7. Lungwort the softest (lungwort, lungwort)

They form dense, slowly growing bushes 45-55 cm high. One of the most attractive forest plants, lungwort is especially beautiful in early spring, when in late April - early May, peduncles covered with numerous bluish-purple inflorescences. Flowering is abundant, long-lasting (from late April to mid-June), and secondary flowering is often observed in August - September. Not only flowers give the plant a decorative appearance, but also the strict shape of a dense bush and numerous beautiful leaves. New leaves appear throughout the season. In August, the seeds ripen (30-70 seeds per shoot), which ensure abundant self-seeding.

Young shoots and leaves of lungwort are used to prepare salads, soups, and purees.

In folk medicine, it has long been used as an emollient and expectorant for catarrh of the respiratory tract, bronchitis, and asthma. From ancient times, decoctions of this herb were used to treat scrofula and “blockages” in the throat. We also tried to use it against consumption (tuberculosis). This is where its popular name “pulmonary” comes from.

SEM. Asteraceae, Asteraceae –ASTERACEAE (COMPOSITAE)

1.8. Common coltsfoot

Perennial with long branched horizontal rhizome. Generative shoots are pubescent, 10-25 cm tall, not branched, covered with small scale-like appressed ovate-lanceolate sharp leaves. Shortened leaves vegetative shoots(appear after flowering) long-petiolate, rounded-heart-shaped, 10-25 cm in diameter, angular, unequally toothed, leathery, initially pubescent on both sides, later glabrous on top, soft-white-tomentose below. The baskets are single, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, drooping before and after flowering. The flowers are golden yellow; marginal – narrow-tongued, pistillate; the median ones are tubular, bisexual, but functioning as stamens. The achenes are oblong, ribbed, slightly 4-sided, 3-4 mm long, the pappus is 4-5 times longer than the achenes. It blooms in April-May (inflorescences form in the buds in August-October of the previous year), the fruits ripen in May-June. Propagated vegetatively and by seeds.

It grows throughout almost the entire European part, in the Caucasus, Siberia, in the mountains of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Usually on the slopes of ravines, cliffs, railway embankments, along the banks of rivers, streams, along ditches, on sandy and clay deposits, on unturfed, washed away soils. Light-loving, moisture-loving.

C.E.M.. LILILY –LILIACEAE

1.9. Grouse small

Listed in the Red Book of the Kemerovo Region.

The bulb is spherical, white, consists of 2 scales, covered with a white membranous shell. The stem is 25-50 cm tall, smooth. Leaves number 3-7, alternate, 2-5 mm wide. The pedicel is sometimes longer than the bract. Drooping flower. The tepals are oblong-elliptical, dark purple on the outside, greenish on the inside, slightly pointed or obtuse, the outer ones are narrower. The capsule is oblong-triangular.
Distributed in the steppe zone of the European part, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan. It grows in meadows, in rich, usually well-moistened, sometimes saline soils. Bulbous ephemeroid. In nature, reproduction is exclusively by seed. Blooms in May-June.

1.10. Siberian Kandyk

Listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

Perennial herbaceous plant from 10 to 20 cm high. The bulb is cylindrical, narrowed towards the ends. The leaves are broadly lanceolate, petiolate, entire, matte, with purple spots. The flowers are lilac, single, six-petalled. Blooms in May. The fruit is an oblong leaflet. Ripens in August. Widely distributed in southern half forest zone, in the mountain forest and subalpine zones. It grows in dark coniferous and mixed forests, along forest edges, and in subalpine meadows, creating a colorful landscape in spring.

1.11. Goose onion grainy.

A perennial ephemeroid bulbous plant with yellow flowers 8 to 30 cm high. The tepals are greenish on the outside. The fruit is a spherical capsule. Blooms early in spring.

Found in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, Far East, in Belarus, Ukraine.

Grows in bushes, forest clearings, steppes, ravines, slopes, especially on humus soil.

SEM. Buttercup

1.12. Spring lumbago

Bronze" href="/text/category/bronza/" rel="bookmark">bronze-golden hairs. Peduncles are short, greatly elongated with fruits; flowers droop at the beginning, later erect, bell-shaped; perianth simple, six-leaved, with leaflets 1 , 5-3.2 cm long, narrowly ovate, at first converging, later spreading, white inside, pale purple, pinkish or bluish on the outside and with the same pubescence as on the tepals; the stamens are numerous, greenish-yellow, half as long as the tepals; It blooms in May - June. The fruits are oblong, with an awn 4 cm long, covered, like the fruits themselves, with yellowish hairs 3-5 mm long.

2. Conclusion

I got acquainted with some plants, with their characteristic features - both in appearance and in development. Some of the representatives of the forest flora are familiar to us, while others we encountered for the first time. World forest plants rich and diverse, the plant population of the forest is very numerous. I did not talk about all the inhabitants of the forest, but only about the primroses, the most remarkable.

Spring is a time when a lot changes in the forest. The arrival of heat does real miracles, as if it sets in motion a huge and complex mechanism of the forest plant community. Everything comes to life, everything transforms, everything begins to develop. Each plant, one way or another, responds to the arrival of spring and awakens to life. But in different plants this happens at different times - in some earlier, in others later. And the spring changes themselves are different; they manifest themselves differently in each plant. There is a lot of variety here.

Based on the data obtained and using a scale of visual observations, I can come to the following conclusion: the deciduous forest I studied, located in close proximity to the village and subject to the greatest recreational load, is characterized as a still slightly disturbed phytocenosis.

Moreover, as visual material For biology, ecology and natural history lessons, I compiled herbariums of flowering forest plants, and also created brochures and donated them to the school library.

In the future, I plan to study in more detail the species composition, life status, not only herbaceous plants, but also trees.

Bibliography

1. Plant life./ Ed. . M.: Education, 1981.

2. Illustrated guide to medicinal plants of Siberia. – Kemerovo: FGUIPP “Kuzbass”, 2004.

3. Kovalev with plants. M.: Soviet sport, 1993.

4. Red Book of the Kemerovo Region. Rare and endangered plant species - Kemerovo: Kemerovo Book Publishing House, 2000.

6. Plant noses. – M.: Eksmo Publishing House, 2004.

7. Key to plants of the Kemerovo region./ Ed. and others. Novosibirsk: Publishing House SB RAS, 2001.

8. Petrov in the life of the forest. – M.: Nauka, 1981.

Observing the life of nature, you see how the Creator of life, through trial and error, gropes and paves the way to perfection. He does not have a clear plan, and therefore all the conversations of people who do not like to take responsibility for their actions about the destiny of existence fall apart if one walks along the steps of development, slowly and in a state of vigilance. Let's observe plants that are called “ephemera” and “ephemeroids”.

Lyrical digression about the “destiny of existence”

The English theoretical physicist, Stephen William Hawking, our contemporary, made a funny conclusion about the predestination of life. Observing the behavior of people who claim that everything in this world has long been predetermined and nothing can be changed, he noticed that when they are about to cross the road, they will definitely look both ways.

Ephemera

The word “ephemera” was coined by the ancient Greeks, observing the transience of life. The meaning of the word in Russian can be explained as “living a short period.” It is literally translated as “daily” or “per day”, which is symbolic, but does not correspond to reality.

Ephemeral plants, of course, live for more than one day, but their full life cycle is very short, estimated at several weeks. In such a period of time, they manage to develop, decorate the world with flowers, bear fruit for procreation, and die with a clear conscience.

Small plants growing in very unfavorable places on our planet, for example, in deserts, where their growing season coincides with the wet period of autumn or spring, are forced to content themselves with such a short life.

We also find ephemera. For example, Krupka oak, growing in most of our country. In June, its pale yellow flowers fade, seeds form, and all parts of the plant die. The grass and seeds of oak groats are used in traditional medicine in the treatment of many diseases, and the Chinese use an infusion of the herb to treat leukemia.

Ephemeroids

Ephemeroids are a little higher on the evolutionary ladder. They also have a very short growing season, but after feeding their fruits, the plant does not die completely. Only its above-ground parts die off, and rhizomes, bulbs, and root crops remain underground, which are storehouses nutrients, accumulated by the plant in order to, having waited for suitable conditions, again show its leaves, flowers and fruits to the world.

Such plants, unlike annual ephemerals, although they do not please the gardener for a very long period, are perennial, saving human time and energy.

It’s amazing how all plants find a place in the soil of the same area. I have been going to the dacha for more than ten years, never ceasing to be surprised and admire the change of scenery outside the car window. In April and early May, the roadsides and clearings and meadows flickering between pines, spruces, birches are painted with white snowdrops, yellow primroses, and lilac candy. In some places the purple-blue caps of the lungwort are visible.

Later, the picture will become bright orange from the swimsuit, which in Siberia we call “lights”. Small bright orange “roses” really look like bright lights flashing against the background of greenery.

Then there will be blue bells, white and yellow caps of cornflowers and daisies, tall bright purple brushes of Ivan tea will rise like a wall, and many more different flowers will take over the summer baton from each other, relying on their own strengths and the help of the nature around them.

Representatives of ephemeroids

Among the perennial ephemeroids there are many of our old decorative acquaintances. Some of them love to show their beauty in early spring (yellow onion, anemone, kandyki, crocuses, multi-colored tulips), others keep company with the gold of autumn (colchicum).

No matter what time of year they appear, we are always delighted by their beauty, resilience and vitality.

Summary

How often do we put off simple possible pleasures, citing lack of time, putting it off “for tomorrow.” Ephemera and ephemeroids give us an example that we shouldn’t do this. Life is so fleeting. Perhaps tomorrow there will be time, but there will be no strength, and the day after tomorrow morning will not come for some at all.

Enjoy every second given by fate. Live “here and now”, as all nature lives on our wonderful planet!

At your request, I am posting here a version of my speech at a meeting of the AZALIA Flower Lovers Club in Krymsk.
Ephemeroids- perennial herbaceous plants with a very short growing season, which occurs during the most favorable period. After this, the life cycle of ephemeral plants begins to stop, and the aboveground part of the plants begins to gradually die off. Due to the nutrients accumulated in the underground part of the ephemeroids, their life is resumed when favorable conditions occur.
Ephemeroids include tuberous, rhizomatous and bulbous. Representatives of ephemeroids are the well-known snowdrops, lumbago (sleep-grass), scillas, scylla, tulips, hyacinths, spring-flowering crocuses, anemones, daffodils, muscari, chionodox, ranunculus, corydalis, hazel grouse, eremurus, as well as such indoor plants as amaryllis, clivia.
U early spring ephemeroids Even under the snow, sprouts and buds of renewal buds are formed. During flowering, ephemeroids form a bright and variegated carpet of flowers, clearly visible to pollinating insects. After the fruits have ripened and the seeds have dropped, in early June, with a change in conditions (little water or light), the aboveground organs of the ephemeroids die off. Underground organs with renewal buds and starch reserves are in a state of deep dormancy for about ten months until next spring.
Representatives of autumn ephemeroids are autumn-blooming crocuses and colchicum, or colchicum. They bloom in late autumn, when the leaves from the trees have already fallen off and do not block the light. For an active life, ephemeroids only need a short daylight time in the forest.
All ephemeroids are conditionally divided into groups:
- The first group includes ephemeroids, in which the buds of growth and renewal are located above the soil level;
- The second group includes ephemeroids, in which the buds of growth and renewal are at soil level and are covered with snow in winter;
- The third group includes ephemeroids, in which the buds of growth and renewal are located very deep in the soil. Even with insufficient snow cover and partial freezing of the root part, ephemeroids from this group are quickly restored. This group of ephemeroids includes almost all spring bulbous plants.
Differing in their ecological, physiological and biological characteristics and growing season, early spring ephemeroids form a seasonal synusia in the grass cover of deciduous forests. Despite short terms vegetation, ephemeroids play a significant role in the creation of the biological mass of the grass cover and in the general circulation of substances in deciduous forests. After the death and decomposition of the above-ground parts, ephemeroids add a significant amount of nutrients (especially potassium and nitrogen) to the soil.
The presence of early spring ephemeroids contributes to a more uniform supply of forest plants with elements of mineral nutrition, especially easily mobile compounds, which are easily washed away by melt water in the spring. Ephemeroids again include them in the general cycle of substances of the forest community.
The entire message is accompanied by a display of the corresponding slides. Thank you for your interest and attention.

Ephemeroids are perennial herbaceous plants, which, like ephemerals, are characterized by a very short growing season.[...]

EPHEMEROIDS [from gr. ephemeros - one-day, short-lived and eidos - species] - perennial (as opposed to ephemerals) herbaceous plants with a short (2-8 months) period of autumn-winter-spring growing season (tulip, sedge inflated, bulbous bluegrass, anemone, scilla).[ ...]

Ephemeroids (from the Greek - one-day and form, type) are perennial herbaceous plants, which are characterized by autumn-spring vegetation. In summer, above-ground shoots die off completely, leaving only underground storage organs with buds (bulbs, tubers, rhizomes). They are especially characteristic of arid regions, where they rest during periods of drought (bluegrass, tulip, sedge, scilla, etc.), but are also found in forest-steppes and deciduous forests.[...]

EPHEMEROIDS - perennials with a very short growing season. They spend most of the year in a dormant state. A typical example of E. is the well-known snowdrops in our forests.[...]

Ephemera and ephemeroids predominate where from spring to summer there is a sharp change in growing conditions associated with the provision of plants with water or light. An example is the lush development of plants such as bluegrass and sedge in some areas of Central Asia in early spring, when moisture and temperature conditions are favorable for their life. In aspect, such communities at this time resemble meadows. But as soon as drought sets in high temperature, from ephemerals only seeds remain that have managed to crumble to the surface of the soil, and in ephemeroids only underground organs are preserved, remaining in a state of rest until the onset of favorable conditions for their growing season. What previously resembled a meadow takes on the appearance of a desert.[...]

For early spring ephemeroids, the so-called “snowdrops,” heating of the leaves provides the opportunity for fairly intense photosynthesis on sunny but still cold spring days. For cold habitats or habitats associated with seasonal temperature fluctuations, an increase in plant temperature is ecologically very important, since physiological processes thereby become, to a certain extent, independent of the surrounding thermal background. [...]

In spring, ephemerals and ephemeroids develop widely, which predominate in the grass stand in sandy deserts. The most common shrubs here are juzgun, cherkes, sand acacia, white saxaul, etc. In clayey gypsum deserts, wormwood, boyalych, tamarix, etc. predominate, and the soil surface is often covered with algae and lichens. The latter form the basis of vegetation in the clay takyr desert areas. In general, the vegetation cover is very sparse.[...]

On sandy deserts, the grass stand is dominated by ephemerals and ephemeroids. The most widespread are sandy sedge (Carex phusodes), bulbous bluegrass (Poa bulbosa var. vivipara), annual brome (Bromus tectorum, etc.), from the bulbous family - goose onion (Gagea reticulata); umbrella (Ferula foltida), etc. [...]

This perennial herbaceous plant develops a dense basal rosette leaves, among which the outer ones are spring, soft, thin and narrow, almost linear, quickly die off, and the inner ones are summer, fleshy, almost succulent, wide, rounded-spear-shaped, initially smaller than the spring leaves, continue the growing season for quite a long time .[...]

One of the most characteristic features oak forests in general and complex oak forests in particular is the presence of a group of early flowering plants in the grass cover herbaceous species- oak forest ephemeroids. These include a significant group of bulbous and corm plants that bloom in oak forests before the oak unfolds its leaves: scillas, corydalis, anemones, gossamer and toothworts. In early spring, these plants form decorative flower carpets in oak forests.[...]

Brown semi-desert loamy soils are dominated by wormwood, fescue-wormwood, wormwood-biyurgun and biyurgun-kokpek associations with a significant admixture of ephemerals and ephemeroids.[...]

In the zone it is very thinned out. Projective coverage does not exceed 30-40% (in some places 20-30%). The soils were formed under fescue-wormwood associations with an admixture of ephemerals and ephemeroids. When the grass stand is thinned, lichens and blue-green algae develop on the soil surface.[...]

In the central part of the zone (in the subzone of chestnut soils) wormwood-fescue steppes predominate, and in the southern part (in the subzone of light chestnut soils) - fescue-wormwood steppes, with a significant admixture of ephemerals and ephemeroids (poa bulbous, tulips, irises, etc. .). On chestnut solonetzic soils in the grass stand there are different kinds wormwood (white, black, Austrian), as well as chamomile, prutnyak and kermek. Lichens and algae appear on the surface.[...]

Synusia of annual plants and lichens, and partly ephemeroids, are absent or very weakly expressed. Subshrubs are almost completely absent.[...]

The seasonal dynamics of desert phytocenoses is clearly expressed. Phenological changes in communities are easily observed visually, expressed in changes in aspects: from bright yellow and lilac flowering in spring, to pale naked indifference in summer and autumn.[...]

It is characterized by a certain species composition and the ecological and biological unity of its species. In the wormwood-hodgepodge desert, synusias of summer-autumn shrubs (wormwood, hodgepodge), early spring ephemerals and ephemeroids are distinguished.[...]

Chernozems were formed under herbaceous vegetation, which was dominated by perennial grasses. Currently, most of the black soil steppes are plowed and natural vegetation is destroyed. In the composition of natural vegetation, from north to south, forbs decrease and the content of spring ephemerals and ephemeroids increases.[...]

The vegetation cover is characterized by the dominance of wormwood-feather grass steppes. Among the turfgrasses, Stipa sareptana, St. lessingiana, Festuca valesiaca. The obligatory co-dominants are semi-shrub desert-steppe wormwood (Artemisia gracilescens). Artemisia pauciflora, Art. are common on solonetzes. schrenkiana. Here they play a more active role than in the dry steppes. spring plants, ephemeroids and ephemera.[...]

The vegetation of gray soils is defined as subtropical steppes, or low-grass semi-savannas (L. E. Rodin). This vegetation arose during the process of increasing climate aridity since the Pliocene due to the uplift of the mountain systems of Central and Central Asia. Its composition is dominated by cereals, with giant umbelliferous plants (ferula) being very typical. During the period of spring moisture, ephemerals and ephemeroids grow rapidly - bluegrass, tulips, poppies, etc. According to the change of the wet and short-term spring phase to the dry and long summer phase, the vegetation changes sharply. In spring, bright and lush, but short-term associations of ephemerals are characteristic, in summer - associations of xerophytes that are stable throughout the hot period.[...]

In evergreen plants, in addition to restoring turgor (if it has been lost), very good sign The beginning of the growing season should be considered the clearly marked acquisition of wild rosemary, lingonberry leaves and juniper, pine, and spruce needles of a dark color typical for summer. In forests, the beginning of spring weeping in birch and maple is the first sign of the beginning of the growing season. The same informative feature is the unfolding of the first leaves of spring ephemeroids.[...]

The importance of individual environmental factors in the complex action of the environment is unequal. Therefore, among the latter, the leading (main) ones are distinguished environmental factors and secondary (related). The leading factors are those that are necessary for the life of the body. For different types Usually different driving factors are required, even if the organisms live in the same place. At the same time, it should be noted that in different periods During the development of the organism, there is a change in leading factors, which is especially typical for plants. So, for example, for ephemeroids during the flowering period the leading factor is light, and during the period of seed formation - sufficient moisture and minerals.[ ...]

According to R. Whittaker, in the steppes the dominant life form of plants is hemicryptophytes (perennial grasses) - 63% of the total flora; followed by therophytes (annual grasses) - 14%, chamephytes - 12%, etc. Phanerophytes (trees) make up 1% of total number plants. Plants of the steppe zone are characterized by the following ecological features: narrow-leaved xerophytic turf grasses (feather grass, fescue, bluegrass, fescue, etc.) are widespread; root systems which form branched bundles going to a considerable depth; the presence of ephemerals and ephemeroids (irises, cereals, forget-me-nots, buttercups, tulips, crocuses, etc.); There are also succulents.[...]

To the south, meadow steppes were characterized by forb-feather grass and fescue-feather grass associations. Xerophytic plants took a relatively greater part in their grass cover, the main background of which in the forb-feather grass steppes was narrow-leaved feather grass, fescue, thin-legged grass, steppe oats, drooping sage, Volga adonis, bluebells, sedge, steppe plantain, spurge, mountain clover, etc. In the type-chakovo-feather grass steppes, low-stemmed feather grass, tyrsa, fescue, wheatgrass, and sedges predominated. Moisture deficiency contributed to the development of ephemerals and ephemeroids in these steppes - mortuk, bulbous bluegrass, tulips, alyssum, wormwood with a degree of projective cover of 40-60%.[...]

One of the adaptations of plants to life in arid areas is a shortened life cycle. Among the parpolystaceae, there is a group of ephemerals - annual herbaceous plants that survive the dry period in the form of seeds, and after sufficient rainfall they germinate, quickly bloom, produce seeds and then die. They go through the entire development cycle in 5-8 weeks. In arid climates, perennial plants - ephemeroids - also strive to complete the growing season in the shortest possible time.[...]

Air humidity determines the frequency of active life of organisms and seasonal dynamics life cycles, affects the duration of development, fertility and their mortality. For example, plant species such as spring speedwell, sand forget-me-not, desert alyssum, etc., using spring moisture, manage to germinate in a very short time (12-30 days), develop generative shoots, bloom, form fruits and seeds. These annual plants are called ephemerals (from the Greek “ephemeres” - fleeting, one-day). Ephemera, in turn, are divided into spring and autumn. The above plants are spring ephemerals. Certain species of perennial plants, called ephemeroids or geoephemeroids, also show clear adaptation to the seasonal rhythm of humidity. Under unfavorable humidity conditions, they can delay their development until it becomes optimal or, like ephemerals, go through its entire cycle in an extremely short period of early spring. This includes typical plants of the southern steppes - steppe hyacinth, poultry plants, tulips, etc.[...]

Over the growing season, not only the appearance of communities changes, but also (more significantly) the quantitative relationships between species, the impact of individual species and the community as a whole on the environment, and the productivity of the community. Depending on the composition of the plant community, the quantitative ratios of its components change more or less noticeably during the growing season. Changes in the quantitative ratio of plant species in herbaceous communities and herbaceous layers are especially large forest communities. In some of them, the dominant plants change during the growing season. This is especially noticeable in such communities, which include species with a short growing season, confined to spring: either annual - ephemerals, or perennial - ephemeroids.[...]

Melastomes can also be found on sea coasts, on coral reefs, and in mangrove swamps. Many plants of this family are found in arid conditions - on dry and sunny places, on salt marshes, in savannas, on rocks. Some species grow in volcanic craters, on old lava flows, and near hot springs. On the dry plateaus of the interior regions of Brazil, the campos are abundant in low, heavily pubescent, rigid-leaved shrubs or dwarf shrubs, often having an orycoid appearance, or herbs with small scale-like leaves, often imbricated on the stems. Among the plants of the African savannas, the species of the genus Dissotis, which numbers about 140 species in tropical and South Africa, are especially remarkable. They are mainly herbaceous plants, but also shrubs or shrubs, usually hairy, with purple or purple flowers. Some species of dnssotis are ephemerals, small annual plants that manage to go through the entire development cycle in the wet season before the onset of the dry season. Other species are ephemeroids. During the dry period, the above-ground organs of the ephemeroids completely die off, only the tubers or rhizomes equipped with buds remain alive.

The air is transparent, permeated with a warm cobweb of the first sun rays, the trees are openwork, and the background for this gentle awakening serves as a colorful forest canopy. Needless to say, everyone is looking forward to spring with impatience and hope. The sun has warmed up a little, and nature comes to life, everything begins to grow. And early spring ephemeroids will be the first to delight us in the garden and forest.

This is the name of a group of perennial herbaceous plants, the above-ground organs of which develop from autumn to spring and die in the summer, while the underground organs (bulbs, rhizomes and tubers) persist for several years. These include snowdrops, scillas, corydalis, anemones, tulips, chives and many others.

The group of early spring ephemeroids is extensive and includes representatives of many families. All of them are united by a very short - ephemeral - flowering period. The supply of nutrients is located in rhizomes, tubers or bulbs and has been stored since the previous year. If you dig them up in the fall, you can find not only reserve substances, but also large buds already formed. This allows plants to be very short term develop a shoot, bloom and even bear fruit. Ephemeroids reproduce by self-seeding and vegetative propagation of rhizomes and bulbs. So the anemone is often called a traveler. Due to the growth of the rhizome on one side and its death on the other, it moves through the forest and blooms in different places from year to year.

Ephemeroids are quite hardy. They live everywhere: in deserts, steppes and deciduous forests. They live well in our climate. Moreover, it has been scientifically proven that for the normal formation of flower buds they vitally need low temperatures in winter.

And in the spring - white, yellow, blue, purple meadows lie in gentle shadows under the still bare crown of trees. Broad-leaved forests free from foliage are well warmed up by the sun, melted snow and rotten leaves make the soil fertile - which is not ideal conditions for active growth and flowering? The rich colors of the corollas of primroses and their abundance actively attract pollinating insects. To spread their seeds, ephemeroids even attract soil insects, such as ants. On fruits or seeds, special, oil-rich, fleshy appendages are formed that ants like so much.

All early spring plants short. For example, the early flowering gooseberry (Gagea) is the smallest lily on the planet. Bulbs or rhizomes of ephemeroids should be planted in the fall - usually in September, to a depth of about 6–8 cm. Mass plantings (as in nature) in groups or larger clearings around trunks look impressive tall trees, bushes, on boles or in rockeries.

The requirements for growing conditions in the garden are the same for all species. These should be well-lit areas with well-drained soil. Bulbous plants are replanted only after the leaves turn yellow, once every few years.

Chionodoxa - translated from ancient Greek means “glory of the snows”. In nature it grows in the alpine and subalpine zones on the islands Mediterranean Sea and on the western coast of Asia Minor (from Crete to Izmir). A small perennial bulbous plant. Unpretentious, frost-resistant, reproduces well by dividing bulbs. There are from 1 to 12 flowers on the peduncle. The color of the petals is blue, white, pink, blue with yellow eye in the middle. Prefers any well-drained soil. The soft blue flowers of Chionodoxa look good in rock gardens, combined with more luscious colored crocuses and hyacinths. For example, with bright blue muscari inflorescences.

The genus Muscari, or mouse hyacinth (Muscari), has about 30 species common in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia to Central Asia, but mainly in the Mediterranean, on grassy slopes, in the mountains, in the forest belt and near melting snow. Muscari are pollinated by bees or small dipterous insects. To attract them, some species with inconspicuous brownish-greenish fertile flowers have large sterile upper blue-violet flowers on long colored pedicels, forming a pappus at the top of the raceme. Since the 16th century, muscari (M. moschatum), which has a strong aroma, has been cultivated.

Scilla, or Scilla, prefers partial shade and well-drained soil. Has white, blue and pink flowers. Scilla reproduce well vegetatively: they grow up to 6 bulbs per year. They quickly grow into a colorful carpet. If they reproduce by self-sowing, they bloom in the 3-4th year. Transplantation is required after 3–5 years, during which time an adult bulb forms 8–12 bulbs. The planting depth is about 6–8 cm, but the bulbs can tolerate significant depth.

Corydalis (Corydalis) accumulate starch and alkaloids in the tuber. It is thanks to alkaloids that these plants have medicinal value. They usually bloom in the 5th year of life. Flowers of purple or yellow color are collected in tall inflorescences. Corydalis respond to soil moisture and require good moisture.

And then you can continue this list yourself. It's quite extensive. Take a closer look at the colorful carpet of the April forest - nature itself will tell you how to increase the aesthetic appeal of your summer cottage when the snow has barely melted. And most importantly, the first spring flowers will cheer you up in your awakening garden.

Olga Mirgorodskaya, biologist

EPHEMEROIDS EPHEMEROIDS

(ephemeroida), perennial herbaceous plants, which are characterized by autumn-winter-spring vegetation. They bloom in early spring. In summer, above-ground shoots die off completely, leaving only underground storage organs with buds - bulbs, tubers, rhizomes. Typical for arid regions where they rest during periods of drought (species of tulip, sedge, bluegrass bulbous), as well as for forest-steppes and broad-leaved areas. forests where they use a wet and light period before the leaves bloom on the trees (Siberian scilla, species of corydalis, buttercup anemone).

.(Source: “Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary.” Editor-in-chief M. S. Gilyarov; Editorial Board: A. A. Babaev, G. G. Vinberg, G. A. Zavarzin and others - 2nd ed., corrected . - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1986.)

ephemeroids

Perennial herbaceous plants that have the ability to suspend life processes during periods of drought (summer) and begin growth and development at favorable times, i.e. They are characterized by autumn-winter-spring vegetation. These are mainly bulbous plants. So, in spring numerous types of tulips and goose onions bloom. In summer, the aboveground part dies off completely and no traces of the plant are visible, and the bulbs rest in the ground. Some bulbous ephemeroids (e.g. colchicum, saffron) bloom in autumn.

.(Source: “Biology. Modern illustrated encyclopedia.” Chief editor A. P. Gorkin; M.: Rosman, 2006.)

See what "EPHEMEROIDS" are in other dictionaries:

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Perennial herbaceous plants, the above-ground organs of which develop from autumn to spring and die off in the summer, while the underground organs (bulbs, tubers) remain for several years. years. Characteristic of steppes, semi-deserts and deserts (types of tulip, sedge, bluegrass), as well as... ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

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