Manuscripts in the Archives of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg reveal the first recorded observations and introductions of Lilium pensylvanicum Ker-Gawl. from Siberia to European Russia. The naming of Lilium pensylvanicum and its attempted renaming to L. dauricum Ker-Gawl. is fully outlined. Lectotypes are designated here for the names Lilium pseudodahuricum M.Fedoss. & S.Fedoss., L. dauricum var. alpinum N.I.Kuznetsov and L. pensylvanicum f. praecox Vrishcz. The new combination L. pensylvanicum var. alpinum (N.I.Kuznetsov) J.Compton & Sytin is made and a key is provided to the varieties of L. pensylvanicum.

The necessity of the typification of the Apocynum L. s.l. (incl. Poacynum Baill. and Trachomitum Woodson) (Apocynaceae) species is crucial for future dogbane diversity estimations. Still, the original material of many taxa of the genus Apocynum s.l. is doubtful or remains to be discovered. This study’s topic is resolving a long-term taxonomic homonymy around the widely used binomial “A. sibiricum”. The misusing of the name “A. sibiricum” became a reason for long-term misunderstanding of the meaning of the binomial Poacynum sarmatiense (Woodson) Mavrodiev, Laktionov & Yu.E.Alexeev (A. sarmatiense (Woodson) Wissjul.; T. sarmatiense Woodson) and therefore for the misestimation of the Apocynum s.l. diversity in Russian and other Eurasian floras. Resolving this issue, here, we designate the lectotype of A. sibiricum Jacq. and the name “A. sibiricum Pall.” was validated within Poacynum as P. pallasianum Mavrodiev, Sytin, Laktionov & Vasjukov nom. nov. (Apocynum sibiricum auct., non Jacq.) with the lectotype selected from the original collections of Peter Simon Pallas.

Olga Vladimirovna Tscherneva (1929–2023) was the oldest research worker of the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the last of the authors of the “Flora of the USSR”, the long-term curator of the Central Asian sector of the Department of Herbarium of Higher Plants of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, the monographer of the most complicated genus Cousinia Cass. (Asteraceae), an authoritative expert on many genera of the family Asteraceae, a recognized expert in the international community of botanists and taxonomists. O.V. Tscherneva personified the continuity of different generations of botanists, as well as the traditions of the Tashkent school of taxonomy.

Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt (1685–1735), who was sent to Siberia by personal decree of Tsar Peter the Great, explored the nature of Asian Russia to the borders with China for 8 years. He collected extensive materials on the flora, fauna, archeology, and linguisti of Siberia. Messerschmidt’s observations on the geographical distribution of species are set out in his final essay “Sibiria perlustrata” (1727). In the section “Pinacis simplicium Regnum vegetabile...” Messerschmidt listed 430 plant species that he observed during a trip to European and Asian Russia. He marks the boundaries of the distribution of species by the valleys of large rivers, which seems to be an innovation that laid the foundation for one of the basic principles of the botanical and geographical method. This trend developed in the research of Academic expeditions in the XVIII century. Differentiation into native and alien species allowed us to identify 86 names of plants that grew in the gardens of the Moscow Region and in Siberia in the first third of the XVIII century. A special role in the cultivation of gardens beyond the Urals belonged to Swedish prisoners of war interned in Siberia during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). The list of introduced plants is analyzed. The polynomial names of species characteristic of pre-Linnean botany have been identified with the actual names of species. The composition of adventitious plants and the timing of their naturalization are commented on.