Rare flowers of Crimea. Blooming Crimea (a short botanical reference book). Pyracantha bright red, or scarlet

The most important harvest season fruits wild trees and bushes in Crimea are September, October and November. Well, this is more for compotes, jams, liqueurs, drying and other food use.

Pollen, flowers, and in general all parts of plants such as rose hip, turn, barberry, hawthorn, walnut, hazelnuts, medlar, rowan. Therefore, knowledge of the “gifts of Tarzan” and the locations of forest gardens in Crimea ( chair) is a mandatory part of the mountain guide qualification. A chair is a hayfield, usually artificially leveled with the placement of huge boulders in the bed of a stream. The second type of wild fruit trees and shrubs in Crimea is even more interesting for route tourism; these are ashlama (grafted) - free-standing cherries, apple trees, pears, dogwoods and other plants with surprisingly fragrant and tasty varietal fruits along the trails. Quite recently, the Crimean Tatars, as well as the indigenous Russians, Ukrainians and other peoples of the Mountainous Crimea, had a custom: when going to the mountains, they took cuttings of the best varieties of fruits and berries from the valley with them in order to graft them onto young self-seeding plants next to the path. Ash is food, fruit in Turkic languages, ashla is fruitful, edible. Ashlamak - to vaccinate. Ashlama is a forest tree grafted with a valuable variety.

The collection season turns out to be year-round. In March, flowering begins, and in the mountain ravines, protected from the north-west, the “drunk” fruits of wild apples and pears of incredible taste with a clear alcohol content overwinter even under the snow. The fruits of rose hips, hawthorn, barberry and thorns remain on the bushes all winter.
The best traditions of route tourism of Soviet times (at least the 1970s) did not provide for brewing “tea from tea” while traveling. A good instructor on a hike also taught his students to make a decoction of herbs and berries at a rest stop. And even in their fresh form, many Crimean berries and nuts are the most important healthy addition to the mountain air and the beauty of mountain landscapes.

Dogwood - Shaitan's berry. It blooms earlier than everyone else, but is in no hurry to keep up. When collected from the leaves, very small needles fall off, causing itching.

When going into the forest for fruits, be careful about your equipment: strong shoes with non-slip soles, light, dense clothing that completely covers the entire body (arms, legs, chest and neck), a hat.

• Medicinal herbs of Crimea, overview of typical growing areas

Tarzan Plantations
from the book by Igor and Konstantin Rusanov MOUNTAINS AND SEA, 2001

Dogwood And hazelnut grow almost everywhere south of the line Sevastopol - Bakhchisarai - Simferopol - Belogorsk - Old Crimea. As an undergrowth in oak-hornbeam forests and independently on rocky slopes and ravines, forming bush thickets together with hawthorn , barberry , rose hips .

Often in such places, as well as on sunny edges, impenetrable clumps are formed. turn (wild plum), thorny vine blackberry , or azhin. By the way, rose hips are often found in the form of thorny vines entangling trees. Picking it is a frustrating experience: the berries are large and beautiful, but you can’t reach them. Shrub thickets can also be seen in the driest semi-desert landscapes of Tarkhankut and the Kerch Peninsula - they alone enliven the ravines and dry rivers.

Rarely found in mountain forests viburnum , rowan different types(the most notable is large-fruited rowan with clusters of pear-shaped fragrant fruits of yellow color with a blush; there are artificial plantings around the Simferopol reservoir) and very rarely medlar - a tree from the apple subfamily with brownish tart fruits. The most accessible place where there is a lot of German medlar is the serpentine (in the sense of a winding asphalt descent) from the Alushta-Yalta highway to the Utes sanatorium and the Santa Barbara boathouses.
Everywhere in the forest you can find the ancestors of our gardens - various species of wild apple trees, pears, cherry plums, apricots, cherries. It is often impossible to eat their fruits due to their astringency and astringent taste; it is better to dry them for the winter, and then add them to dried fruit compotes for a forest aroma or use them for the same additives in home canning. If the autumn is long, dry and clear, but the fruits on the ground on the southwest side of the tree taste much better than those on the tree. The alcohol content in them is almost the same as in beer, so don’t even think about disturbing a wild boar from under such a hot spot. In hops, such a beast is not predictable.

The fruits of the wild plum - sloe - are also distinguished by their coloring effect, giving any compote a thick and juicy red color. Sloe liqueur with a small (20 grams per glass) addition to tea, it is an indispensable remedy for colds; it will always protect you from illness if you are wet to the skin and frozen to the bones. A few sips, and the warmth spreads in waves throughout the body, filling every cell.
The edibility of the listed fruits is beyond doubt, but the berries juniper prickly *, reminiscent of a Christmas tree with very stiff needles, but for some reason strewn with large dark red “berries”, not many have tried it. Meanwhile, this is an excellent remedy for fatigue on the road; the tart and fragrant berries refresh, strengthen the gums, and have bactericidal properties. If you are interested in Scandinavian cuisine, then you need to pick the berries and dry them for future use. They will also come in handy if you are not very good at handling transport, and even if mountain roads. For such cases, it is also good to simply chew a bunch of long needles Crimean pine- just don’t put them in your mouth with the sharp ends so as not to get hurt.

* Not to be confused with tall juniper, or tree-like, - rare plant, listed in the Red Book of the USSR. Its berries are bluish, small and tasteless.

There is one more plant that stands apart from the others - silver sucker (“wild olive "). He loves dry, sunny places and is not afraid of salt. At the end of summer, small oval fruits with mealy-sweet pulp and seeds ripen. In modern botany, it is customary to distinguish between silver and angustifolia. It is believed that it is the narrow-leaved sucker that grows in Crimea, but since in the popular collections “Legends of Crimea” the tradition of writing “Silver sucker” has already taken root, and the leaves of the wild olive are really silvery, we decided to ignore scientific and botanical innovations for now.

Elf was brought to us from the Caucasus as a park plant, but is now spreading by self-sowing.
The same is the fate of almonds and walnuts. Once upon a time they were garden plants, but have been settling independently for many centuries. Almonds, in many cases, are simply wild peach trees. In peach orchards, almond trees stand out for their large growth, and in the spring they also have small white flowers, in contrast to the large bright pink flowers of peach.

Walnut , in recent decades, has suffered in some places from the spread in Crimea, first in parks, then by self-seeding of the North American walnut hickory , which is characterized by small fruits and almost impenetrable shell armor. Due to cross-pollination, these unnecessary characteristics began to appear in the walnut. Traditional Crimean walnut varieties are distinguished by very large fruits. A good size is considered to be one that only covers one finger of the palm. The peel of the nuts of the elite trees of Crimea is easily pressed through by pressing the thumb if the nut is placed on top of the index finger. There are still preserved (for example, in the Botanical Garden of the Taurida National University) old walnut trees, in which the walnut shell is not solid, but openwork: the kernel of the nut is visible through the holes in the shell.

The legendary alcoholic drink is distilled from green (that is, unripe) walnuts at the stage when the inside, including the shell and kernel, is still in a jelly state. In archaeological circles it is known as Mangupsky Nut Moonshine . For many generations of history students, Mangupsky Moonshine allowed them to live for a whole month in an incredible regime: 2-3 hours of sleep, exhausting work under the summer mountain sun, in the evening, or rather at night, songs around the fire, and then... it’s a young thing... and in the morning again a shovel or wheelbarrow and dust of centuries.

Like local nut-bearing plants - hazel (hazelnut) and hazelnut (cultivated varieties of nuts, in Crimea they can also be found in clearings along tourist trails), and the newcomers produce fruits that ripen in September. Many people love waxy ripe nuts and collect them in August. Such fruits need to be eaten immediately; it is useless to store them for future use. Only those nuts that are separated from the skin are stored well.(walnuts and almonds - or from the green “cap” (hazelnuts and hazel).

Another alien - figs(fig tree, fig tree, wineberry), a plant that has been cultivated in Asia for five thousand years. It is believed that it first appeared in Crimea in 1813 in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. Now it spreads by self-sowing, and in extremely unenviable conditions, on barren soils, steep eroded slopes, but in the sun. This is probably why you can often see it along the roads, growing straight from the bedding on the side of the road. Fresh juicy figs cannot be compared with dried ones. Light varieties, however, are overly sugary, but the blue-black ones have a pleasant sourness, so it’s better to eat them alternately.
The strawberry tree looks very exotic, but it’s just small-fruited strawberry- this is the tree most native to the South Coast, one of the few relics of the pre-glacial period. Its fruits, reminiscent of a large number of seeds around a soft berry, a strawberry, are collected in a cluster of several pieces. They ripen at the end of August and have nutritional value in their natural form only for birds; with sugar, syrup or liqueur they are suitable for dessert and for people. They are used to make jelly, preserves, jams and marmalade. The park's foreign brothers of the Crimean strawberry - large-fruited and Menciza - are distinguished by the best fruits, but a park is a park, and it is better to go to the forest to pick berries.
The most fertile time in the forest comes at the end of summer, and the same type of fruit ripens on slopes facing the sun almost a month earlier than in the shady valleys of streams and rivulets. Often, and in exactly the same conditions, you will see a dogwood with crumbling black fruits, and next to it only a reddened one. This phenomenon of polymorphism (many forms) is characteristic of almost all wild fruit plants of Crimea: walnut, hawthorn. pears, rose hips, thorns and so on. It concerns the shape and size of the fruit, their taste and color, the size and shape of the crown, so that a forest apple tree is sometimes difficult to distinguish from a pear or hawthorn, and hawthorn suddenly tastes like quince. This variability is explained by the centuries-old human impact on the flora of mountain forests, the repeated wilding of cultivated plants during times of war and tribal movements, and the wide distribution of chairs.

• What do medicinal plants look like and what are their medicinal properties? Figures, tables and photos can be found on the Internet and special reference books.

Botanical table with drawings of medicinal plants and their valuable parts

Application:

Dogwood

Dogwood(turf) is a large fruit shrub from the dogwood family. Lives up to 250 years. Dogwood bark is red-brown. Annual shoots are green or green-brown. It blooms in spring, before the leaves bloom.
The fruits ripen in late autumn.
Dogwood is widespread in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Moldova, and Crimea. It grows high in the mountains and along the edges of forests, river banks, and in some places forms small thickets. The fruits are edible, juicy, sweet and sour, astringent, pleasant to the taste, and after frost their taste improves significantly.

Nutritional and medicinal value of dogwood fruits
Dogwood fruits are considered biologically valuable. Their pulp contains: from 10 to 17% sugar (glucose and fructose); up to 3.5% organic acids (malic, citric, succinic); tannins, pectin and nitrogenous substances, flavonoids (1-5%); vitamins C (50-160 mg%) and P, provitamin A; essential oil, phytoncides, many salts of iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur.
In terms of vitamin C content, dogwood is sometimes superior to black currant - 100 g of its berries contains 50 mg of ascorbic acid.
Dogwood seeds contain up to 34% fatty oils. The bark contains the glycoside corin, tannins, malic and other organic acids. The leaves contain vitamins E and C.
Dogwood is eaten raw and its fruits are used to make juice, syrups, compotes, preserves, jam, jelly, marinades, wine, tinctures, liqueurs and liqueurs. Dogwood is used as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes.

Medicinal uses of dogwood
* At gastrointestinal diseases Dogwood fruits - fresh and in the form of jam - have good astringent properties.
Due to the content of phytoncides, the berries have a detrimental effect on typhoid, dysentery and some other bacteria.
* For gastritis, it is recommended to eat dogwood berries.
* Crushed fruits with seeds, ground with honey and egg yolk, as well as decoctions and infusions of fruits are used against diarrhea.
To prepare the decoction, brew 2 tablespoons of dried dogwood fruits with 1 cup of boiling water, boil for 30 minutes, filter while hot and bring the volume to the original volume. Take 100 g 3 times a day.
To prepare dogwood infusion, pour 2 tablespoons of fruit with 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 8 hours and drink 100 g 2 times a day.
* For children with diarrhea, it is good to give dogwood jelly, which is boiled at the rate of: 3 tablespoons of soaked or fresh fruits per 1 glass of water. Take 70 g 3 times a day before meals.
In acute gastroenterocolitis, jelly is included in the diet.
* For diarrhea, a decoction of dogwood leaves and fruits helps well. To prepare it, boil 2 tablespoons of fresh or dry leaves and fruits for 10 minutes in 1 glass of water, then leave for 8 hours, mash the pulp of the fruits and take 0.5 cups 3 times a day.
* Dogwood berries are recommended to be included in the diet for skin diseases and eczema.
* Thanks to the pectins they contain, dogwood berries accelerate the process of cleansing the body of metabolic products. Dogwood promotes the removal of oxalic and uric acid.
* For gout and skin diseases, metabolic disorders and a tendency to be overweight, dogwood berries are used.
* Dogwood fruits are indicated for inflammatory diseases of the liver and kidneys.
* For rheumatism and polyarthritis, a decoction of roots and bark is recommended: 1 teaspoon of raw material is boiled for 15 minutes in 1 glass of water, left for 2 hours, filtered and taken 2 tablespoons 3 times a day.
* For diabetes mellitus, it is recommended to regularly take juice from fresh dogwood fruits: initially, 50-70 g 30 minutes before meals, if well tolerated, the dose is gradually increased to 1 glass.
* Dogwood leaves have choleretic, diuretic and hypoglycemic effects.
* An infusion of dogwood leaves with branches has a diuretic, choleretic and astringent effect: 1 tablespoon of raw material is poured with 1 glass of boiling water, take 50 g 3-4 times a day.
* For anemia (as a source of iron), vitamin deficiency and as an antiscorbutic, dried and fresh dogwood fruits are consumed.
* When treating fever, use an infusion of flowers, juice or infusion of dogwood fruits.
* Dogwood jam is used for colds, and dried and fresh dogwood fruits are used for sore throat, flu, scarlet fever, bark and rickets.
* A decoction of dogwood fruits in the form of lotions helps with headaches.
* Dogwood fruits help get rid of joint pain.

Decorative value of dogwood wood
In the forest, any cutting of even small dogwood branches entails a very serious fine. If a dogwood is planted in a garden plot, it must be thinned out and rejuvenated from time to time. Even thin dogwood rods are already valuable for children's crafts, since they are flexible and strong. For example, “Indian” bows, darts, spears. As for wood in general, it is incredibly valuable and elegant. For a long time it has been used for tool handles, for inlaid inlaid parts (for example, billiard cues), and for smoking pipes. Products made from dogwood wood have always been indicators of high status in society and good taste.

Thorn plum, or sloe

Local names: dereznik, blackthorn... Turn distributed in the steppe zone of Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, the Caucasus and Northern Kazakhstan; in northern Europe it reaches Finland and Scandinavia. In the Caucasus and Crimea in the mountains it rises to a height of 1200-1600 m above sea level.
It is most often found on moderately moist and alluvial soils, forming large, almost impenetrable thickets. Photophilous, drought- and frost-resistant.
Wood sloe is strong, hard, brown-red in color, polishes well, but cracks and warps; used for the production of small turning and carpentry products, canes.
Prickly plum is a good honey plant that produces a lot of beebread.
As an ornamental plant it is suitable for low-traffic hedges, as well as for afforestation of ravines and gullies, strengthening slopes, river banks and canals. Serves as a rootstock for bush forms of peach, apricot and plum.
Typically, sloe in Crimea produces small and very tart berries, which, however, become very pleasant to the taste after lying in the shade for several days. They are also good dried. In the Crimean Foothills and on the Southern Coast, in places where teas were previously distributed, you can see tall bushes or small thorn trees with fruits up to 15 mm in diameter and with more tender pulp.
Sloe fruits are widely eaten. Roasted fruits along with leaves can serve as a coffee substitute. The leaves are used to brew tea. Small thorn fruits remain hard for a long time and only after the first frost do they become edible fresh. However, even in this form they are usually used for processing. The pulp is difficult to separate from the seeds, and the taste remains sour and astringent. The fruits are processed together with the seeds, and therefore compotes and jams are not left for long-term storage, so that amygdalin is not extracted from the seeds.
Fresh fruits can be stored for up to 20 days.
The juice from the fruit and the bark are used to dye fabrics red; they are also used in folk medicine for disorders of the digestive system.
From seeds (kernels) it is obtained fatty oil, which has technical applications, and the shells can be used to produce activated carbon.
How mild laxative use a water infusion or decoction of flowers collected in April-early May. Decoctions of fruits, flowers, bark and roots are used as a blood purifier. Tea from young leaves or infusion of flowers is used as a diuretic and metabolism-improving agent. Decoctions of bark and roots have diaphoretic and antipyretic properties.
Chemical composition. Sloe fruits contain 8.9% sugar, 2% organic acids, and up to 1.5% pectin. The kernels contain up to 37% fat, amygdalin and other substances. Due to the high content of amygdalin in the nuclei, the latter are considered poisonous.
In the forests of Crimea, grafted plum trees are widespread, including those that spread independently, probably by root shoots.
Cultivated varieties of plums are especially abundant and diverse in the forest thickets in the lower reaches of Alimovaya Balka near the village of Bashtanovka (Bakhchisaray district) and in the vicinity of the Red Caves (Simferopol region).
All this suggests that cultivated plums have been grown in Crimea since time immemorial. The most famous and most valuable variety of plum, which corresponds to the Hungarian prune, but is much smaller, but also tastier. Uzyum Eric(plum grapes). The name itself suggests that these prunes in their natural raisined form could be stored until the next harvest. It was widely used to give an elegant ruby ​​color to compotes and drinks, and also as a spice for fatty meat dishes. Among the thickets of thorns near the river valleys one comes across large fruits, clearly wild plums of the Uzyum Eric variety.

Medlar

Despite the species epithet, this tree is native to Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe and was introduced to Germany by the Romans. German medlar needs warm summers and mild winters. Medlar also grows wild on the southern coast of Crimea, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Single plants are found in garden protective plantings central regions Ukraine (for example, in the city of Uman, where the plant was brought in Soviet times as a weak-growing pear rootstock). She prefers sunny, dry places and slightly acidic soil. In Algeria, it is very often found in the gardens of colonial-era houses in the suburbs of large cities.

The fruits of the German medlar can be eaten on the serpentine descent from Pushkino (trolleybus route between Alushta and Yalta) to Karasan

Botanical description
German medlar is a fruit tree with ideal conditions the plant grows up to 8 m, but more often it is much lower.
The leaves of the tree are dark green elliptical, 8-15 cm long and 3-4 cm wide, but in the fall, before falling, they change color to red. Five-petalled white flowers appear in late spring.
The fruit is reddish-brown in color, 2-3 cm in diameter, with unfolded permanent sepals giving it a hollow appearance. The fruits of the German medlar are hard and sour.
They are suitable for consumption only after freezing or long-term storage (if the fruits are removed from the tree before frost occurs). At the same time, they become sweet and soft, but acquire a wrinkled structure and decrease in volume.
However, on the South Coast they are quite edible, perhaps due to targeted selection? Already in early September, on the serpentine descent from Pushkino to Karasan Park along the road, you can eat quite edible fragrant and juicy fruits, with an interesting aroma and taste.

Cultivation
German medlar has been cultivated for 3000 years in the Caspian regions of Azerbaijan. It began to be cultivated by the ancient Greeks around 700 BC. e. and the ancient Romans around 200 BC. e. In ancient Roman and medieval eras, this plant was the most important fruit crop. However, in the 17-18 centuries. interest in it gradually faded away, and it was replaced by other crops, and is currently cultivated quite rarely.

Name options
In the North Caucasus, the common medlar in Russian is usually called “chishki”; Wed also in V. Dahl's dictionary: CHISHKA, chishki, chishkovo tree - medlar, Mespilus germanica. In the Russian Transcaucasus (Sochi, Tuapse) and Abkhazia - medlar.

HAZELNUT, PLANT FOR STRENGTH AND HEALTH

…. wild hazel widespread in forests throughout Ukraine, and, accordingly, industrial production of varietal hazelnuts is not only possible, it simply must be throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. After all, the most reliable way to achieve success in any branch of crop production is to grow what is programmed by nature, what God created for a given area. Introduction is a good thing, but why discard something that grows on its own? This is an ideal chance given to us by nature, and we really cannot answer the perplexed questions of our foreign colleagues about why we don’t want to bend down to pick up the treasures that are lying under our feet.
Hazelnut has great importance for the economy of any country. Nut kernels contain 60-75% oil, 15-20% proteins, 3-5% carbohydrates, about 3.0% gluten. They are rich in carotene, vitamins B1, B2, C, E, PP, iron salts and other substances necessary for the human body. Slopes covered with hazelnut plantations are protected from erosion and blowing; it is absolutely undemanding to soils - any soil is suitable except highly saline ones. Among fruits, and not only, this is the number one crop for anti-erosion measures, which strengthens slopes, beams, ravines, river beds, etc.
In Turkey, thirteen provinces have built their prosperity on this crop, using steep mountain slopes for its industrial production. We have plenty of such slopes, and most often they are abandoned and grazed by livestock, especially goats, which greatly increases the destruction of the soil layer, causing dust storms and ravine development.
Hazelnut oil, aromatic, non-drying, i.e. containing large number unsaturated amino acids, is a unique anticholesterol agent and is used in food both in its natural form and in the confectionery, canning, pharmacological, vitamin and paint industries. Whole nut kernel, crushed or ground, as a whole nut food product, consumed as food in itself and for production confectionery: cakes, pastries, nougat, sweets, cookies, etc., chocolate and surrogate coffee are made from it. The annual need of our confectionery industry for hazelnuts is about 10 thousand. tons, is provided by barely a third, and even then through imports. Almost all of our famous Kiev cake is now made with peanuts, and it’s not even a nut—more like a bean.
Valuable high strength wood goes to making furniture. Medicinal raw materials All parts of the plant are used: shoots, leaves, roots, bark, pollen, plus (fruit wrapper), shell and nut kernel. The leaves are harvested during flowering, the bark in early spring, at the time of sap flow, pollen is sifted out from catkins, which are collected before intensive dusting begins and dried at room temperature.
Hazel preparations have a vasodilating, anti-inflammatory, enveloping and emollient effect. Nut kernels, ground with boiled water, are used as milk, which gives strength and vigor; it is recommended for nervous diseases and to increase the amount of milk in nursing mothers. “Milk” is also widely used for bronchitis, fever, hemoptysis, urolithiasis and flatulence, and for the treatment of burn wounds. Fruit kernels with honey are an indispensable remedy for anemia, general weakness, rheumatism, tumors, and ascariasis. The leaves are used to treat intestinal diseases, anemia, vitamin deficiency and rickets.
An infusion of leaves is an excellent and tasty diuretic tea, a general tonic for nervous diseases, epilepsy, urinary incontinence, and general weakness. It treats inflammation of the prostate gland, urolithiasis, anemia, diseases of the lymph nodes and liver. The bark is used for varicose veins, trophic ulcers, hemorrhoids, diseases of the stomach, intestines, liver, dysentery and colds. A decoction of plusoks (fruit wrappers) is taken for diseases of the stomach, intestines, liver, anemia, vitamin deficiency and rickets.
The oil is used for worms, epilepsy, radiculitis, skin diseases, and to strengthen hair. One teaspoon per day of a mixture of pollen and honey is washed down with an infusion of leaves for general weakness, anemia, multiple sclerosis, diseases of the lymphatic system, and is also applied to purulent and long-healing wounds. In addition, nut kernels nut butter, preparations from all of the listed parts of the nut bush: decoctions, tinctures, extracts, extracts, steams and teas taken internally are the most effective of all known remedies for sexual weakness; This is their, so to speak, side effect, which manifests itself in the treatment of any other diseases.
Hazelnuts, like the common hazel, belong to the hazel genus (Corilus) of the birch family (Betulales) and are a bush tree 3-6m high with a crown diameter in old plants of up to 6-8m. The plant is monoecious. Male flowers are collected in complex inflorescences-earrings, which are formed by the end of summer. By the time of flowering, they greatly elongate, become loose, change color from gray-brown to yellow-green, and during flowering they become golden...

Vladimir and Nina Volkov
st. 60 years of the USSR, 26, p. Donskoe
Simferopol district
Crimea 97523
Nursery village Donskoye http://pitomnik.crimea.ua/

Evergreen shrubs differ from trees in both size and structure - they have several thick branches-shoots extending from a common base, whereas trees have only one trunk.

However, in different conditions growth of deciduous woody plants can take the form of a bush, tree or tree, that is, the division into trees and shrubs is not clear; this is observed, for example, in holly and Ernobothria. The division into tall and low shrubs is even more arbitrary - their sizes depend on both growth conditions and age. But long-term observations in Crimea make it possible to determine the prevailing sizes and structure of evergreen deciduous species here and, within the framework of a general identification table, to distinguish two groups indicating ranges and deviations.

The main types of evergreen shrubs in Crimea

1. Tall shrubs and trees, above 1.8 meters: shiny privet, rugose-leaved viburnum, willow-leaved cotoneaster, round-leaved cotoneaster, medicinal cherry laurel, Portuguese cherry laurel, oleander, scarlet pyracantha, Tobira pittosporum, Japanese eriobothrya.
2. Low shrubs, below 1.8 meters: Japanese akuba, Juliana barberry, Souli barberry, Japanese euonymus, bush lily, St. John's wort, bush jasmine, evergreen viburnum, horizontal cotoneaster, small-leaved cotoneaster, true lavender, prickly oleaster, holly mahonia, fragrant osmanthus , osmanthus varifolia, rosemary, common buxus, Sarcococcus aquifolia.

Eriobothria japonica, or "loquat" japonica

Natural habitat: China (Himalayas).

It has long been cultivated in Southeast Asia as a fruit plant (Japan, China, India), as well as in the USA, Georgia (Adjara).

In Crimea, about 150 years old - like a beautiful park plant that blooms in winter; used for group and solitary plantings. The ovaries are often damaged by short-term cold spells in December-February, so the fruits develop only occasionally - medium-sized, but with normal germinating seeds (the fruits in the Caucasus are called “lokva”).

Oleander

It has been cultivated since ancient times - there are many colored forms and double varieties.

In Crimea for about 200 years, it is common as an elegant garden plant in the South Coast. There is an extensive collection of forms and varieties. Popular outside its range as an indoor and pot culture. It should be remembered that all parts of this famous ornamental plant are poisonous.

Natural habitat: Western China.

Cultivated for about 150 years. In Crimea - since 1930 as a profusely flowering ornamental shrub with graceful foliage.

It has been cultivated since the beginning of the 20th century as a unique and sustainable park plant.

In Crimea, since 1929, it has been observed in the collections of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden and beyond. It tolerates significant cold spells and is found in park plantings from Sevastopol to Karadag. Yes, anomalous cold winter in January-February 2006 it was not destructive for Viburnum rugosa in Sevastopol (arboretum of the Musson plant named after Kalmykov).

Pittosporum, or Tobira resin seed (Pittosporum chinensis)

Natural habitat: China, Japan.

It has been cultivated for a long time within its range - as a park and aromatizing plant (for tea, cosmetics, etc.).

In Crimea - about 150 years, where it is used for group plantings in parks from Foros to Alushta.

Natural range: Balkans, Asia Minor, Western Transcaucasia (Georgia), Iran.

It has long been cultivated in Europe, in many garden forms.

It has been grown in Crimea for almost 200 years as a sustainable park breed. Common on the South Coast and in the adjacent zone (Sevastopol - Alushta - Privetnoye); occasionally in Evpatoria, Sudak, Feodosia.

You should know that the leaves and berries contain poisonous hydrocyanic acid.

Natural habitat - Southeast Asia(China, Korea, Japan).

Privets are close relatives of lilacs; the genus includes about 50 species growing in the subtropics of the Old World ( Southern Europe- Southeast Asia).

Long known as ornamental and ancient medicinal plants; a group of closely related species from China and Japan has been cultivated for more than 200 years.

In Crimea - about 170 years. Shiny privet, oval-leaved privet, Japanese privet and their hybrids are common in park and urban plantings from Sevastopol to Feodosia, including the South Coast.

Natural habitat: Southwestern China.

Cultivated as a sustainable park species. In Crimea - more than 150 years; used in group and alley plantings.

Cherry laurel Portuguese or Lusitanian

Natural habitat - Northwestern Mediterranean (Portugal, southern Spain).

Cultivated in Southern Europe for over 350 years. It was introduced in Crimea at the beginning of the 19th century and is used in south-coast parks for group plantings. Outside the South Coast - sporadically (in the vicinity of Balaklava).

Pyracantha bright red, or scarlet

Natural range - Southern Europe, Crimea, Caucasus, Western Asia.

Cultivated as a stable background breed for over 350 years. In Crimea it grows wildly, in some places, on the southern slopes - along beams and cliffs. The elegance of flowers and fruits, the bright autumn color of the leaves and hardiness make it possible to widely use pyracantha in roadside, street and group park plantings.

Varieties (based on fruit color) and cultural forms (larger sizes) have been developed.

Natural range: northwestern United States.

Cultivated in Europe as an unpretentious ornamental plant; the berries have nutritional value - coloring wines, drinks, etc.

In Crimea since the beginning of the 19th century - as the most persistent evergreen shrub, it is widely used for landscaping throughout the peninsula (known as this in central Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia).

Natural habitat - northern Mediterranean, Crimea, Caucasus, Iran.

Cultivated as an unpretentious graceful plant for more than 250 years. In Crimea it grows wild in the mountains and foothills - in semi-shaded places, light forests, on slopes; common from Laspi to Sudak. In this zone it was preserved in park areas or transferred to them from natural habitats (domestication).

Shrub jasmine is often found in the parks of Crimea in the form of clumps (Foros, Alupka, Massandra, Karasan, Nikitsky Botanical Garden).

Barberry Juliana, or Julia

Natural habitat: Central China. There are about 500 species of barberries in the world flora, among them there are many evergreen species; cultivated in dry areas.

In Crimea - from the beginning of the 20th century; two types are more often used - the above-mentioned barberry Juliana (Julia) and barberry Souli with reddish berries, otherwise they are difficult to distinguish. Known in fencing, roadside and group plantings from Sevastopol to Alushta.

Natural habitat: Japan.

Cultivated for about 175 years. In Crimea - since the mid-19th century, found in southern coastal parks (Livadia, Nikitsky Garden, Karasan, park of the Utes sanatorium and others). Variegated garden forms are available.

Natural habitat - Southern China (Himalayas), Southern Japan.

Cultivated for over 150 years. In Crimea - since the beginning of the 20th century, it often grows in southern coastal parks and urban plantings from Foros to Alushta, where the upper branches sometimes freeze - they are cut off, and the osmanthus remains low. There is also another species - fragrant osmanthus, which has the appearance of a tree with spreading branches, more than 3 meters high.

Natural habitat - Mediterranean.

Cultivated since ancient times. There are industrial plantations in France, Spain, and Transcaucasia.

In Crimea - almost 200 years, widely used in landscaping from Sevastopol to Karadag; There are experimental plots and industrial plantations on the South Coast.

Natural habitat is the western Mediterranean.

Since ancient times, wild lavender has been used here as a fragrant and medicinal plant. There is evidence that in France (province of Provence) it was collected back in the 12th century; attempts to create plantations were made in Burgundy in the 14th century; Only in 1890 did special industrial plantings appear.

In Crimea - since 1812, as an ornamental and essential oil crop. Industrial lavender plantations were established in 1930-1932 (Alushta essential oil state farm plant - 40 hectares; in the 1980s - 365 hectares). Lavender oil and lavender seeds are an export item; essential oils Lavender and rosemary are necessary raw materials for high-quality perfumes and are used in the pharmaceutical industry.

Natural habitat - South Korea, Japan (except for the island of Hokkaido). It has been cultivated for more than 200 years in warm areas with sufficient moisture. In Crimea, it appeared in the collection of the Nikitsky Garden more than 185 years ago. Garden variegated forms are known - “golden tree” ( yellow spots), marble (white spots). As an original, noticeable plant, it is planted in small groups in parks and boulevards from Foros to Alushta; the planting experience in Sevastopol (1980s) had a negative result.

Natural habitat: southwestern China.

Cultivated for over 120 years. In Crimea - since the beginning of the 20th century, where it is used in parks and urban plantings for the construction of open decorative curtains (rocky gardens and slides). Known from Sevastopol to Sudak.

Natural habitat: Southwestern China. It has been cultivated since the beginning of the 20th century as a stable shrub of original appearance among a large group of ornamental cotoneasters tested in the last century (the genus includes about 50 species). In Crimea, it has been introduced into park and urban plantings (groups on lawns, dry slopes, etc.).

Natural range: Southern Europe, Asia Minor.

Cultivated since the beginning of the 18th century. In Crimea - more than 100 years. It is found occasionally in parks - in the area from Sevastopol to Alushta as an excellent ground cover plant, similar to the small periwinkle, but more heat-loving.

Viburnum evergreen, or laurel leaf

Natural habitat - Mediterranean.

It has been cultivated for a long time - domesticated in a wild growth area. In Crimea - about 200 years; very unpretentious and has become common in park, roadside and city plantings from Sevastopol to Sudak. In parks it is often presented in the form of trimmed bushes - trellises, spheres and other figures.

Its natural habitat is the western Mediterranean, including the islands and North Africa.

Cultivated since 1600. In Crimea - from the beginning of the 19th century; easily runs wild, forming stable thickets in open forests, along ravines. It is used as a drought-resistant shrub for landscaping slopes, seaside and roadside areas in the area from Evpatoria to Kerch.

Natural habitat: China, Korea, Japan.

Cultivated for over 200 years. In Crimea, about 180 years old - in park and urban plantings (groups, trimmed borders); found in parks from Evpatoria to Sudak. There are garden forms with spotted and edged leaves.

Common buxus, or evergreen (boxwood)

Natural habitat is the Mediterranean, including the Caucasus. Cultivated since ancient times in Greece and Italy. In Crimea - for more than 200 years as a popular park breed from Yevpatoria to Kerch, known in Bakhchisarai (territory of the Khan's Palace museum complex). It can grow as a tree, but more often than other evergreens, buxus-boxwood is used to create trimmed borders (0.5-1 meter high) and trellises (for example, in Alupka and Gurzuf parks). In Alupka, more than 150 years ago, a grove of 60 trees was created.

Natural habitat: Southwestern China.

Cultivated in Europe for less than 100 years. In Crimea - since the 1930s; It is rarely found in parks - only on the South Coast. Its presence in plantings gives off a strong aroma in winter; known in Nikitsky Garden ( Lower Park), in Alushta (sanatorium "Slavutich") and other places; there were landings in Sevastopol (1980s).

Not only residents of the peninsula, but also those who come to visit, should know the dangerous plants of Crimea. Every traveler, unknowingly, can pick a poisonous flower or eat a life-threatening berry.

Crimean nature is very beautiful, but to the same extent it can be dangerous if you do not know the dangerous plants of Crimea. We have already talked about some of them; this article lists ten of the most beautiful dangerous plants in Crimea, which can lure with their wonderful flowers or bright berries.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - datura vulgare

Anyone who read Bazhov's fairy tales in childhood may remember the famous stone flower - an ideal bowl created by master Danil in the almost unattainable image of a datura flower.

Residents of Crimea have long appreciated its beauty. The common datura, which grows everywhere in Crimea, is often used by local residents as an ornamental plant.

Even more often in Crimean gardens and parks you can find large white gramophones of the Indian datura. But this poisonous plant became famous not only for its beauty, but also for its other properties.

Alone popular names, which point to them, what they are worth: stupefying grass, crazy potion, drunkenness, crazy grass...

And all these names are well deserved, since the plant is poisonous and a strong hallucinogen. Therefore, shamans and priests of some tribes and peoples, knowing safe dosages, took it to enter a trance.

In India there was even a profession - dope poisoner. The “professional” blew dope seed powder into the snuffling man’s nose through a pipe, which made him fall asleep even more deeply, and the thieves easily, without any obstacles, carried the property out of the house.

But, like many other well-known poisons, Datura alkaloids in the correct proportions have been used in medicine since ancient times.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - colchicum

Light purple or pink flowers that bloomed their buds in the fall, on the eve of the winter cold, gave the flower its name - colchicum. But their innocent defenselessness is very deceptive - the flower is even very poisonous. Colchicum sap contains more than 20 toxins, and some of them are deadly.

Even gardeners are advised to wear gloves when working with colchicum.

The literature describes cases of death of people who were treated with its decoction as prescribed by healers. Another name for this plant is colchicum.

According to ancient Greek myth, this plant grew from drops of the blood of Prometheus, who was chained to Caucasus mountains and was tormented by an eagle, and decorated the garden of the goddess Artemis in Colchis.

There are two similar species of colchicum found on the peninsula: the shady one, which blooms in autumn, and the winter Ankara one. Moreover, the first of them is often confused with the more common but harmless plant, which also blooms in autumn - the beautiful crocus.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - Hamlet flower or henbane

The very name of this plant evokes a clear association among many with the brilliant work of the great English playwright William Shakespeare. After all, it was henbane that poisoned the king.

This plant, common to the peninsula, with not very flashy, but very attractive flowers, is also associated with the Russian expression: “Have you eaten too much henbane?” And indeed, the symptoms of poisoning with it are so expressive that the famous doctor and scientist Avicena wrote: “Henbane is a poison that often causes insanity, deprives one of memory and causes suffocation and demonic possession.”

A common cause of poisoning is the similarity of henbane seeds to safe poppy seeds, which are especially attractive to young children. Dr. Mettesi noted:

Children, having eaten too much henbane, fall into such extravagance that their relatives, without knowing the reasons, begin to think that this is the machinations of evil spirits.

However, using precise dosage, henbane is included in some anti-asthmatic drugs and is also used as a pain reliever.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - arum or forest pencil

In April-May, an exotic arum flower, slightly similar to kala, appears in the forests of Crimea. Its single petal is also compared to a wing, hence the name of the rarest of the three species growing on the peninsula - white-winged arum.

Despite its unique decorative properties, the Crimean arum did not gain popularity due to its pungent and very unpleasant odor.

However, flies, their pollinators, find the amber that comes from these flowers to be a very attractive aroma. The unusual flowers of Oriental arum have two flowering phases - male and female.

Flies, having visited a plant with a male flowering period, after a while land on a female flowering period and slide inside. At the same time, they are prevented from getting out of the flower by thread-like outgrowths that are directed downward. The flies have no choice but to crawl along the cob located at the base of the flower, pollinating it with the pollen they bring.

After this, the arum enters the male flowering phase, removes all its traps and releases the flies to freedom. And everything repeats itself again.

All types of Crimean arum are toxic. In summer, their ears ripen and are covered with attractive orange berries. If you eat at least a few of them, severe inflammation of the oral cavity occurs and characteristic features poisoning

In some places of Crimea, arums are called forest pencils for the ability of the rod located in the center of the inflorescence to color surfaces. This interesting property attracts children who, playing with forest pencils, put themselves in serious danger.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - fighter or aconite

In the beech forest of Crimea you can find a very beautiful perennial herbaceous plant from the buttercup family with bright blue or purple flowers. Its most popular names are aconite or wrestler.

According to ancient Greek mythology, the wrestler emerged from the poisonous saliva of the formidable guardian of the underground kingdom of Hades - the three-headed dog Cerberus, whom he brought to earth great hero Hercules. This suggests that the plant has been considered one of the most poisonous since ancient times.

The ancient Greeks used the plant to carry out death sentences. There is even a known case when legionnaires of the Roman Emperor Mark Antony, after eating several aconite tubers, lost their memory and soon died.

According to one of the ancient legends, the famous conqueror Tamerlane died, poisoned precisely by the poison of aconite, which was soaked in his skullcap. The juice of the poisonous plant was used in those days to make poisoned arrows. That is why in many countries the very possession of aconite root was considered a serious crime and punishable by death.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - yew berry

A tree covered in ancient legends, a long-lived tree, a welcome decoration of Crimean parks. However, such popularity could not protect the yew berry from cruel extermination.

In ancient times, entire forests of yew berry grew in Crimea, but at present there are very few old trees left. The age of yew berry can be quite respectable - some trees are more than a thousand years old.

The widespread destruction of yew was caused by its beautiful, durable, almost eternal wood, painted in different shades of red. That is why it was also called mahogany. In Ancient Egypt, sarcophagi were made from it, and later in Europe - very expensive furniture.

The most best bows. But due to the toxicity of the tree, those who processed it lived very little.

Ancient legends have been preserved that in the old days beautiful cups were created from yew berry, which were then presented as gifts to enemies in the hope of poisoning them. In fact, the toxicity of yew berry was known to Pliny the Elder.

Everything about a tree is poisonous: wood, seeds, needles, bark, roots. The exception is the juicy shells that look like berries. Sweetish, but not distinguished by an exquisite taste, they are completely harmless. The danger is that if they are eaten together with the fruit (seed), poisoning is inevitable. There is evidence that even those who prune yew branches experience headaches.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - peony

It is unlikely that any other flower in Crimea can compete with the bright splendor of shapes and colors with the highest light of the flora world - luxurious peonies. As befits aristocrats, they trace their history in park culture back to ancient times.

Already two millennia ago, their delicate peony flowers decorated the imperial gardens of China. They were brought to the court from the south of the country in specially made bamboo baskets, and to protect them from withering, each flower stem was covered with wax.

The ancient Greeks valued the peony not only for its beauty, but also for its amazing healing properties. Even doctors in those days were called peonies. There is a myth about Peon, a student of the god of healing Aesculapius, who surpassed his mentor in abilities. This angered God, and he ordered Hades to poison this talented young man.

However, at the last moment the ruler of the underworld took pity on the dying young man and turned him into a flower of extraordinary beauty. Like many medicinal plants of Crimea, peonies are poisonous. Everything about it is toxic – from the rhizomes, petals, seeds. Therefore, the accuracy of the dosage of drugs based on peony is vital. The flora of the peninsula is decorated with two types of peonies, which compete with each other in their splendor. But, unfortunately, their number is decreasing throughout the Crimea.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - Heracleum or Hercules flower

The white caps of inflorescences against the background of beautiful carved leaves in themselves clearly distinguish this plant from all others. But it is even more impressive with its majestic size.

Under favorable conditions, some types of hogweed grow up to 4 meters with a leaf area of ​​up to 1 square meter. In this case, the diameter of the inflorescence often reaches 60 centimeters.

To become so powerful and very high speed growth - 10-12 centimeters per day, it received its Latin name - Heracleum.

Surprised by its extraordinary appearance, residents of central Russia brought its seeds from the Caucasus, the Urals and other regions. Having settled in a new place as an ornamental plant, the hogweed soon became uncontrollable and, conquering the surroundings of the peninsula, began to displace many local species, becoming a malicious weed.

But later it turned out that the handsome man was not only fertile, but also very poisonous. Even touching this plant can cause a serious chemical burn, so remember it well and during the flowering period, try to admire its beauty only from the outside.

Dangerous plants of Crimea - buttercup or Ares flower

The affectionate-sounding name of the plant “buttercup” actually comes from a formidable, even ferocious epithet - fierce. Its bright yellow, lacquered flowers have received another popular name - night blindness.

This was apparently due to the irritant effect of the juice on the mucous membranes, including the eyes. Of the beautifully flowering toxic plants of the Crimean peninsula in terms of the number of species - he is a true champion - out of 23 species, all are poisonous.

Contact of the plant with the skin can cause severe dermatitis, and the likely outcome of its ingestion is lethal. In antiquity, the buttercup was a symbol of unfriendly teasing and served as the emblem of the formidable god of war Ares.

IN Ottoman Empire Ranunculus leaves were widely used in greenhouses and became a symbol of the greatness of the sultans. In Ancient Rus' it was considered the flower of the thunderer Perun. And according to one Christian legend, fleeing from the Archangel Michael, Satan hid among the buttercup thickets, which is why the flower became so evil.

The lily of the valley is often called a lantern for gnomes. This plant from the lily family, despite its modest appearance, has won the hearts of all many nations. Small snow-white, sometimes pink, graceful flowers of lily of the valley, like magic bells, exude a delicate, refined aroma that leaves no one indifferent.

In terms of the number of legends and myths, it is unlikely that it will have competitors. In the Christian legend, lilies of the valley grew from the tears of Mary that fell to the ground as she mourned her crucified son.

In Russian legends and epics, its appearance is associated with Magus, the sea princess. Sadko rejected the love of the sea maiden for the sake of an earthly girl named Lyubava. And her bitter tears sprouted into tender and slightly sad flowers.

According to another legend, on the contrary, lily of the valley flowers are the happy laughter of Mavka in love, scattered like pearls throughout the forest.

In Western Europe, it was believed that lily of the valley flowers serve as lanterns for gnomes, and miniature elves hide in them from the rain.

Lily of the valley flowers are still loved today. In France, on the first Sunday in May, the lily of the valley holiday is celebrated, and the Finns even consider it their national flower. Widely known since ancient times medicinal properties lily of the valley IN medieval Europe he became a symbol of medicine.
However, lily of the valley is completely poisonous.

Few people know that this plant produces bright red, appetizing-looking fruits in the fall, which, if eaten, can cause serious poisoning. There are even known cases of death when water containing a bouquet of lilies of the valley was accidentally drunk.

Unlike most Russian regions, April in Crimea is the height of spring - everything is blooming! Gardens, cities, steppes, mountains, every slope, front garden, gorge, everywhere there is some kind of flowering bush or flower nestled. Only May can compete with it in the number of flowering plants, and even then, thanks to the ubiquitous poppies and lilacs.

What blooms in April on the Crimean peninsula

The first thing that catches your eye is the white and pink clouds of flowering fruit trees and shrubs of the Rosaceae family.

They are diluted with yellow-blooming dogwood, barberry and jasmine (holofloral or bushy), as well as clumps of pale blue rosemary and bright red quince bushes:

What trees bloom in April in Crimea

Along the roads, gnarled almond trunks are hidden under the white foam of flowers. It is the first of the Crimean trees to bloom, back in February.

In March and April it is joined by quince, cherry plum, plum, apple, pear and their numerous wild and feral relatives. Rowan, viburnum, and hawthorn are not far behind them. The private sector of Crimean cities is becoming incredibly prettier and is literally buzzing with bees, diligently flying around numerous flowers.

Not all trees bloom brightly; many, like pistachio obtufolia, are very modest.

But their earrings, inflorescences, and cones also actively participate in creating that gentle charm that permeates the Crimean forests in mid-spring, when deciduous trees stand in a transparent greenish haze, and coniferous trees “powder” with their pollen at the slightest breath of wind.

Flowering begins in April. It is completely hidden under purple flowers, which cover even the trunks and large branches.

At the same time, sakura blooms (yes, you don’t have to go to Japan, just get to or).

There, on the South Bank, magnolia opens its huge flowers.

All this, at the same time, can be seen in the magnificent collection of the famous. Something is always blooming there, but mid-spring is one of the most best periods to visit him.

What blooms in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in April

The main event of April at the Nikitsky Botanical Institute is. Even those who visit this exhibition every year are in for a lot of surprises every time. It seems impossible to come up with new forms and shades, but breeders manage to surprise us again and again.

At the same time, many other plants bloom in the botanical garden. The heathers bask on the alpine hills:

Hellebores thrive in the shade under the spring sun

and periwinkle:

Bushes of forsythia, quince, lilac, rowan, cotoneaster, and honeysuckle are interspersed along the alleys.

At this time, muscari and pansies are in full bloom, daffodils, the collection of which also includes many varieties and forms, begin to bloom.

What blooms in the cities of Crimea

In recent years, the streets of Crimean cities have been decorated with more and more tulips. Flowerbeds are appearing where there have been none for decades.

The old-timers are touched - just like in Soviet times.

In the parks, lacquered yellow guillemot, pale blue periwinkle and pinkish-white daisies hide under the trees:

There are also a lot of fruit trees on the streets, and if in the summer tourists are surprised by the cherry plums and plums falling under their feet, then in the spring it all looks like this:

And this is Bakhchisaray - the garden city lives up to its name:

Front gardens local residents They also show off one another’s collections of flowers:

The variety of tulips and daffodils in them resembles the collection of a botanical garden.

Including because many Crimeans, having visited, try to buy an onion or two for their plot.

In addition to tulips and daffodils, there will almost certainly be primroses in the flower beds. Moreover, both typically wild ones - white, yellow and pink, and garden forms - dark and multi-colored.

and the royal crown are also typical inhabitants of personal plots:

Wild plants blooming in April

Crimea consists of several zones that differ markedly in climate and vegetation composition. Therefore, when on south coast Magnolias are blooming magnificently and lilacs are beginning to bloom, there is still snow in the mountains, and in the thawed areas Crimean snowdrops are raising their heads - coltsfoot, galanthus, scillas, crocuses, primroses, goose onions. A little lower on the yailas - the flat peaks of the low Crimean mountains - the dream grass is already blooming with might and main:

The mountain forests are dominated by kupena, chickweed, corydalis, geranium, strawberry, and speedwell:

This photo was taken in the vicinity of Sevastopol, and at the Yalta Uchan-Su waterfall you can find much rarer white catfish.
Another one blooms there in April Crimean miracle– butcher's broom. Its inconspicuous flowers bloom directly on the leaves.

This is the outskirts of Bakhchisarai - the dogwood is blooming:

In the second half of April, orchids open in the forests. Yes, orchids do not only grow in the tropics. We also have a lot of them - orchis, lyubka, slipper, limodorum, steveniella, pollenhead. All of them are quite rare, because each lives in symbiosis with a certain type of mushroom. Almost all of them are listed in the Red Book and still they are often cut off for bouquets by illiterate and ruthless “nature lovers”.

Almost simultaneously with the first orchids, another Red Book flower blooms - the Crimean peony:

Steppe Crimea is a completely different flora, but it also has its own peonies - thin-leaved peony:

We photographed these beauties in Krasnaya Balka under the White Rock. You can also find Adonis (spring adonis) there:

In general, in the steppe in April, the reigning birds are cinquefoil, forget-me-nots, breaker, kozelets, muscari - mouse hyacinth:

And the low iris - large flowers on low stalks.

They come in a variety of colors - all shades of yellow, blue and burgundy.

The most surprising thing is that bushes of such radically different shades almost always grow intermixed. Peeking out between the irises are stoneflies, fireweeds, forget-me-nots and tiny, pinky-nail-sized wild relatives of pansies:

In general, there are a lot of violets in Crimea - blue rock, pleasant blue, fragrant violet, white. And everything blooms in the spring.

At the same time, the feather grass blooms, covering the hills with silvery waves. Also in the steppe at this time you can find white poppies (the poppy is questionable), and in the East of Crimea the Schrenk tulip, the ancestor of all cultivated varieties of tulips, blooms. Several other types of tulips grow in Crimea (Bieberstein, mountain, two-flowered); they also bloom at this time and are extremely rare. Therefore, they also need strict protection.

In April-May, Crimea is unusually beautiful, and although it is a little early for the swimming season, it is a wonderful time for travel, and if your vacation falls in the spring, come to Crimea, you won’t regret it!