Biology of the medicinal plant Arum korolkowii Regel (Arum)

Abstract

More than five thousand plant species thrive in various zones across Kazakhstan, representing a rich botanical diversity. Unfortunately, numerous plant species are becoming increasingly rare, and some are even threatened with extinction. The significance of utilizing medicinal plants has increased immeasurably in recent decades. The rational combination of medicinal plants holds the potential to expand therapeutic possibilities. However, the future use of medicinal plants may face significant limitations due to the overarching issue of diminishing biodiversity. While efforts to address biodiversity conservation predominantly focus on safeguarding species richness, the intraspecific variability of plants, crucial for population-level adaptation in transforming environments, remains inadequately explored. Particularly, the use of informative methods to study this variability has not received sufficient attention. Theoretical exploration of the population approach to conserving medicinal plant resources is lacking, exacerbated by a scarcity of experimental data in this domain, underscoring the relevance of this research. In light of the aforementioned challenges, it becomes evident that studying red-listed plants is pertinent not only in the context of Kazakhstan but also on a global scale. In this context, our research allowed investigate Arum Korolkov (Arum korolkowii Regel), a red-listed medicinal plant species found in the territories of Kazakhstan.