A new form of Caucasian linden — Tilia begoniifolia Steven f. pendula V. V. Byalt et G. A. Firsov forma nova from Peter the Great Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg (Russia)
Vyacheslav V. Byalt, Candidate of Biological Sciences (PhD), Senior Scientific Researcher
Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, byalt66@mail.ru, VByalt@binran.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2529-4389
Gennady A. Firsov, Candidate of Biological Sciences (PhD), Senior Scientific Researcher
Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, gennady_firsov@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6611-5199
Abstract
The article describes a new form of Caucasian lime — Tilia begoniifolia Steven f. pendula V. V. Byalt et G. A. Firsov forma nova, which is grown in the park of Peter the Great Botanical Garden of the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The tree was obtained as a young plant in the wild in the North Caucasus (Stavropol Territory, Pyatigorsk, Mashuk Mountain) in 2001 by Yu. G. Kalugin. It was planted in a permanent place in the park in 2008. According to measurements made on July 13, 2025, the tree has the following dimensions: height 15.0 m; trunk diameter at a height of 1.3 m — 33 cm; crown 11.5×10.0 m. It is clearly distinguished from the typical form by its long lower branches hanging to the ground and strongly drooping middle and upper branches at the top. The article provides a brief Latin diagnosis, holotype and photographs of the form, which is new to science.
Acknowledgments: The work is carried out on the topic “History of creation, state, development potential of living plant collections of the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of the Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences” (124020100075-2). It is also fulfilled as a part of a state assignment on the planned topic “Vascular plants of Eurasia: taxonomy, flora, plant resources” (no. 1021071912888-8-1.6.11)
For citation:
Byalt V. V., Firsov G. A. A new form of Caucasian linden — Tilia begoniifolia Steven f. pendula V. V. Byalt et G. A. Firsov forma nova from Peter the Great Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg (Russia). Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2025, no. 4 (56), pp. 21—31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2025.56.2.
1. Byalt V. V., Firsov G. A., Byalt A. V., Orlova L. V., Egorov A. A. Illyustrirovannyi konspekt kul’turnoi flory Sankt-Peterburga (Rossiya) [Illustrated summary of the cultivated flora of St. Petersburg (Russia)]. St. Petersburg, BIN RAN Publ., 2024. 503 p., 845 il. Available at: https://www.binran.ru/files/publications/monographs/Illustrated_checklist_of_cultural_flora_of_St-Petersburg_Russia_2024.pdf. (In Russian)
2. Vasil’ev I. V. Konspekt roda Tilia L. [Abstract of the genus Tilia L.]. Novosti sistematiki vysshikh rastenii [News of taxonomy of higher plants]. 1971, vol. 8, pp. 202—208. (In Russian)
3. Vasil’ev I. V. Sem. 58. Lipovye — Tiliaceae Juss. [Family 58. Linden — Tiliaceae Juss.]. Derev’ya i kustarniki SSSR [Trees and shrubs of the USSR]. Moscow, Leningrad, AN SSSR Publ., 1958, vol. 4, pp. 659—727. (In Russian)
4. Golovach A. G. Derev’ya, kustarniki i liany Botanicheskogo sada BIN AN SSSR: itogi introduktsii [Trees, shrubs, and vines of the Botanical garden of the Botanical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences: results of introduction]. Leningrad, Nauka. Leningr. otd-nie Publ., 1980. 188 p. (In Russian)
5. Grossgeim A. A. Tilia L. [Tilia L.]. Flora Kavkaza [Flora of the Caucasus]. Tbilisi, 1932, vol., 3, pp. 56. (In Russian)
6. Loriya M. L. Sistematicheskii obzor lip Kavkaza [Systematic review of lindens of the Caucasus]. Botanicheskii zhurnal, 1967, vol. 52, no. 12, pp. 1789—1791. (In Russian)
7. Maleev V. P. Sem. XCIX. Lipovye — Tiliaceae Juss. [Family XCIX. Linden — Tiliaceae Juss.]. Flora SSSR [Flora of the USSR]. Moscow, Leningrad, AN SSSR Publ., 1949, vol. 15, pp. 1—23. (In Russian)
8. Nedoluzhko V. A. Konspekt dendroflory rossiiskogo Dal’nego Vostoka [Summary of the dendroflora of the Russian Far East]. Vladivostok, Dal’nauka Publ., 1995. 208 p. (In Russian)
9. Svyazeva O. A. Derev’ya, kustarniki i liany parka Botanicheskogo sada Botanicheskogo instituta im. V. L. Komarova (K istorii vvedeniya v kul’turu) [Trees, shrubs, and vines in the Botanical Garden of the V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute (On the history of their introduction into cultivation)]. St. Petersburg, Rostok Publ., 2005. 384 p. (In Russian)
10. Firsov G. A., Yarmishko V. T., Zmitrovich I. V., Bondartseva M. A., Volobuev S. V., Dudka V. A. Morozoboiny i patogennye ksilotrofnye griby v parke-dendrarii Botanicheskogo sada Petra Velikogo [Frostbites and pathogenic xylotrophic fungi in the arboretum of the Peter the Great Botanical Garden]. St. Petersburg, Ladoga Publ., 2021. 304 p. (In Russian)
11. Engler V. Monographie der Gattung Tilia. Breslau, Druck von W. G. Korn, 1909. 159 S.
12. Grimshaw J., Bayton R. New Trees: Recent Introductions to Cultivation. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and The International Dendrology Society. Richmond, Surrey, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2009. xv, 976 p.
13. Pigott C. D. Lime-trees and Basswoods: a Biological Monograph of the Genus Tilia. Cambridge University Press, 2012. 405 p.
14. Pigott C. D., Francis B. J. The taxonomic status of Tilia dasystyla in Crimea, Ukraine. Edinburgh Journal of Botany, 1999, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 161—173. DOI: 10.1017/S0960428600001049.
15. POWO — Plants of the World Online (2025). Avaialble at: http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/. Accessed. 22.10.2025.
16. Ruprecht F. J. Flora Caucasi. Vol. 1. St.-Pétersburg, 1869. 302 p. (Mémoires de l’Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg. 7e série. T. 15, N 2).
17. Schneider C. K. Gattung 228. Tilia L. Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde. Jena, Verlag von Gustav Fischer, 1909. Bd. 2. S. 367—389.
18. Steven Ch. Ch. Enumeratio plantarum phanerogamarum in Tauria sponte crescentium. Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, 1856, vol. 29, pp. 277—334.
19. Tilia bayeriana Borbás. Plants of the World Online. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:2907814-4. Accessed: 28.07.2025.
20. Tilia caucasica var. begoniifolia. Plants of the World Online, Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:3235695-4. Accessed: 28.07.2025.
21. Tilia ruprechtii Borbás. Plants of the World Online. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60468314-2. Accessed: 28.07.2025.
22. Tutin T. G. [et al.] (eds.). Flora Europaea. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, 1968. 469 p.
23. Vöröss L. Z. János Wagner’s Tilia herbarium. Studia Botanica Hungarica, 1984, vol. 17, pp. 69—72.