ПЛАТАН КЛЕНОЛИСТИЙ (PLATANUS ACERIFOLIA WILLD.) В УМОВАХ МІСТ СТЕПОВОЇ ЗОНИ УКРАЇНИ

Abstract

For steppe cities, it is important to replenish the range with durable decorative species that grow quickly and form a three-dimensional crown. Such plants due to the shading of large areas create more comfortable living conditions for people in steppe cities. These species include London planetree (Platanus acerifolia Willd.), which sporadically began to be planted in some cities in the postwar period. The viability of P. acerifolia in the steppe is different. Since the biological peculiarities of this introduced species have been studied in various socio-economic problems in cities, we conducted a comparative analysis of the vital state and biometric parameters of P. acerifolia in the plantations of two cities of the steppe zone of Ukraine. We found out that P. acerifolia is widely used in landscaping of Kherson, while in Kryvyi Rih it is rare. In Kherson, the species is distributed near administrative buildings, schools, hospitals; it grows in parks, squares and yards of high-rise buildings, and in Kryvyi Rih only in one subdistrict and in the arboretum of the Kryvyi Rih Botanical Garden. The trees in Kherson are aged 38–60. The vital state is estimated as high and close to high – 77.8–96.3%. Older trees are 18.4–21.5 m of height and a maximum trunk diameter is 80.1–99.4 cm. Plants of all plantations in Kherson have dry branches, with a rate of 6.3–28.7%. In Kryvyi Rih, 28–42-year-old trees grow. In different plantations of P. acerifolia, the number of dry branches varies in the range of 0.3–44.5%, and the vital state – from 55.5 to 100% depending on the place of growth. The height of P. acerifolia trees is 6.2–20.3 m, and the trunk diameter is 12.2–68.7 cm. The study has proved that the differences in vital state and morphometric parameters of trees in the plantations of these cities depend on the age of trees, their planting density, lighting and other growing conditions. Trees in Kryvyi Rih are more significantly damaged by cold winds than in Kherson. 
 The life form of P. acerifolia in the plantations of Kherson and Kryvyi Rih is almost everywhere a single-stemmed tree. This species is beginning to naturalize in the conditions of Kherson. Several plants of self-seeding origin were found during the research studies. Restoration of plants with young sprouts produced by stumps after cutting the plant trunks in Kherson was also noticed. The leaf apparatus of plants during the growing season is practically not damaged by diseases and pests and no slimy stains are formed on the leaves. 
 We determined that P. acerifolia is a promising species for wider use in landscaping of the cities of the Black Sea coast and settlements of the Right-Bank Steppe, but in the latter case requires successful selection of exhibition sites for successful growth. These, first of all, should be cozy places protected from the effects of cold winds in winter and dry winds in spring and summer.