The genera Hymenolobusand Hornungia(Cruciferae) in the flora of Dagestan: notes on botany and geography

Abstract

The genera Hymenolobus and Hornungia in the flora of the Caucasus occupy a special place among the Cruciferae. First of all, both genera are relatively close, hence the repeated attempts to unite them in one genus (Hayek, 1924; Appel, Al‑Shehbaz, 1997; German, 2005); secondly, they are spring ephemerals; thirdly, the plants of these genera are of extremely small size; fourthly, the ecological niches of representatives of these genera are very limited, although they are different among themselves. Hymenolobus procumbens was first discovered in the Manas‑Samur region of the Eastern Caucasus. The northernmost known population of H. puberulus was found in the Verkhne‑Sulak botanical and geographical region of the Eastern Caucasus. Ecology of a Hornungia angustilimbata population in the Talginsky Canyon has been studied in detail.