A Systematic Review of Albiflorous Carnations of North Caucasus

Abstract

The article provides a systematic review of 8 species of the genus Dianthus L. of North Caucasus, focusing on their morphology and ecology. Most of the studied species have a regional ecology and are found in arid basins. But still their potential ecological capabilities are very broad, as evidenced by the results of the semi-desert climate introduction in the Botanical Garden of the Scientific Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences in Grozny. While the main limiting factor for expanding these species is apparently their low competitive ability. There are morphological features that have the most taxonomic meaning for the group of albiflorous carnations: the size of the flower cup and capsula, the lamina shape and segmentation, the shape and size of bract glumes. All the albiflorous carnations are highly decorative and adaptive to the environment to succeed in the introduction. All the species under study need protecting, especially stenotopic plants: (Dianthus awaricus, D. jaroslavii, D. eibrusensis) and the species at the boundary of the range (D. arenavirus). We consider that it is quite necessary to continue studying the species on the boundary of their range as they demand protecting since they are exposed to the least suitable environment. Only direct observations over numerous series of plants in their habitat will allow to obtain and clarify the available data about their range, number and bioecology as well as their potential will help to determine the limits of variability of species. These observations will test the reliability of the feature complex that contributes to differentiating the species.