Uzbekistan is widely regarded as one of the most diversified sources of the species of Tulipa L. The present study provides the synopsis of the genus Tulipa in this area. According to literature reviews and field surveys, this genus includes 33 species (34 taxa) distributed in Uzbekistan. In this paper, more than 3,500 herbarium specimens deposited in the National Herbarium of Uzbekistan (TASH), Komarov Botanical Institute St. Petersburg, Russia (LE), Moscow State University, Russia (MW), Herbarium of the Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction in Almaty, Kazakhstan (AA) and Herbarium of the Institute of Biology in Bishkek (FRU) were utilized to provide comprehensive genus coverage. The evaluation of their distribution and taxonomic classification were described. The taxonomical analyses, diagnostic keys at sectional and species levels as well as morphologic illustrations of most species distributed in Uzbekistan are provided.

Allium sect. Cepa (Amaryllidaceae) comprises economically important plants, yet resolving the phylogenetic relationships within the section has been difficult as nuclear and chloroplast-based phylogenetic trees have been incongruent. Until now, phylogenetic studies of the section have been based on a few genes. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genome (plastomes) of four central Asian species of sect. Cepa: Allium oschaninii, A. praemixtum, A. pskemense and A. galanthum. Their chloroplast (cp) genomes included 114 unique genes of which 80 coded proteins. Seven protein-coding genes were highly variable and therefore promising for future phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies. Our plastome-based phylogenetic tree of Allium sect. Cepa revealed two separate clades: one comprising the central Asian species A. oschaninii, A. praemixtum, and A. pskemense, and another comprising A. galanthum, A. altaicum, and two cultivated species, A. cepa and A. fistulosum. These findings contradict previously reported phylogenies that relied on ITS and morphology. Possible explanations for this discrepancy are related to interspecific hybridization of species ancestral to A. galanthum and A. cepa followed by chloroplast capture; however, this is impossible to prove without additional data. Our results suggest that the central Asian Allium species did not play a role in the domestication of the common onion. Among the chloroplast genes, rpoC2 was identified as a gene of choice in further phylogeographical studies of the genus Allium.

Allium is a complicated genus that includes approximately 1000 species. Although its morphology is well studied, the taxonomic importance of many morphological traits, including floral traits, are poorly understood. Here, we examined and measured the floral characteristics of 87 accessions of 74 Allium taxa (belonging to 30 sections and nine subgenera) from Central to Eastern Asian countries. We then examined the taxonomic relationships between select flower characteristics and a phylogenetic tree based on ITS sequences. Our results confirm that floral morphology provides key taxonomic information to assess species delimitation in Allium. We found that perianth color is an important characteristic within the subg. Melanocrommyum, Polyprason, and Reticulatobulbosa. In subg. Allium, Cepa, and Rhizirideum, significant characteristics include ovary shape, perianth shape, and inner tepal apex. For species in subg. Angunium, the key taxonomic character is ovule number (only one ovule in per locule). In the subg. Allium, Cepa, Polyprason, and Reticulatobulbosa, which belong to the third evolutionary line of Allium, hood-like appendages occur in the ovary, although these do not occur in subg. Rhizirideum. Our results also indicated that the flower morphology of several species in some sections are not clearly distinguished, e.g., sect. Sacculiferum (subg. Cepa) and sect. Tenuissima (subg. Rhizirideum). This study provides detailed photographs and descriptions of floral characteristics and information on general distributions, habitats, and phenology of the studied taxa.

A synopsis of the genus Elymus in Uzbekistan, including a description of the genus and species, a key to species identification, illustrations, geographical distribution, and habitat requirements, are presented in detail. According to molecular analyses, including chloroplast and nuclear DNA data, the species forms a distinct clade with members of sect. Anthosachne. Morphologically, it is distinguished by significantly higher pubescence compared to other related species. As a result of our morphological and molecular evidence, a new species Elymus uzbekistanicus is described from the Turkestan Mts (West Pamir-Alay). It differs from the closely related E. praeruptus Tzvelev in that the upper surface of the leaf blades is densely covered with short hairs along rather prominent ribs. The axis segments of rather loose spikes are usually smooth or with scattered short spines along the ribs.

A new species, Allium sunhangiisp. nov., of the Middle Asiatic section Brevidentia F.O.Khass. & Iengal., (subgenus Allium, tribe Allioideae, Amaryllidaceae) is described. The species is a small plant from the Babatag Ridge in the Surkhandarya province of Uzbekistan. It is morphologically close to Allium brevidens Vved. in having initially dark violet filaments and three-cuspidate inner filaments, but differs by its small size and visibly unequal tepals as well as in the phylogenetic analysis based on ITS data.