Variability of morphological characters of Adenocaulon adhaerescens (Asteraceae) in a secondary distribution range

To control the dispersal of invasive species and reduce the damage from the introduction of undesirable plants into the natural plant communities, it is necessary, first of all, to conduct an inventory of the alien flora fraction and investigate the biomorphological features of alien plants. The purpose of the study is to determine the number of spontaneous populations and to identify the biological characteristics of Adenocaulon adhaerescens (Asteraceae) that are actively settling in the Moscow. The goals of the work are mapping A. adhaerescens in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GBS RAS) and Shchukinsky Forest Park (Moscow), identifying the amplitude of variability of the generative organs of the plants and determining their seed productivity in order to predict further expansion into the secondary distribution range. Using the route method we revealed the number of A.adhaerescens generative individuals in both localities. Morphological features were investigated using a KEYENCE VHX-1000 digital electronic microscope. The total number of generative plants was 5891 in the territory of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and up to 1500 plants in the Schukinsky forest park. Annually, 1.5 million seeds are formed in the GBS RAS, and 127 thousand seeds – in the Shchukinsky Forest Park. Considering the morphological features of the seeds, which possess glandular trichomes, capable of clinging to animals and humans, the possibility of the rapid dispersal of this alien species by the seeds is not excluded. This gives grounds to attribute this species as a potentially invasive plant and take measures to control its numbers.