In the resort town of Sochi, in addition to beautiful beaches and delightful nature, there are many interesting places that all guests must see. In this article we will tell you about the unique sight of the city. (Sochi).

The Botanical Open Air Museum presents to visitors numerous samples of the flora of the Western Caucasus. Here you can also admire the plants of many southern countries.

History of creation

A garden and architectural park in the city with a rich collection of exotic plants appeared at the end of the 19th century. Playwright and journalist, editor-publisher of the "Petersburg newspaper" S. N. Khudekov in 1889 acquired 50 acres of land in Sochi on the slope of Lysaya Gora near the Vereshchagin dachas.

The site was cleared and a park was laid out on an area of ​​15 hectares. Sergey Khudekov was a lover and connoisseur of subtropical plants. He planted more than 400 species on this land. His close friend, the gardener K. A. Langau, helped to complete the planning of the park.

The arboretum (Sochi) was replenished with new plants that were imported from the Crimea, the Caucasus, and Germany. Some of the seedlings were purchased in Gagra in the Dendropark nursery (Sochi), which was improved and transformed. In the workshop of a French-Italian company in Paris, sculptors and vases were made for him.

In 1899, a villa was built, which was named "Nadezhda", in honor of Khudekov's wife. At the time, she was the best in the region. Peach and plum orchards appeared next to the park. By the beginning of 1917, more than 550 plant species were growing here.

The Arboretum (Sochi), a photo of which you can see in this article, was nationalized in 1922, and in 1944 became part of the research experimental station. Today he is the Research Institute of Forest Ecology and Mountain Forestry.

In 1977, a new cable car appeared in Sochi. She connected the magnificent park with Kurortny prospect. Its length is 908 meters.

Description

The park covers an area of ​​forty-nine hectares. This is a unique monument of landscape art and an experimental demonstration base of the Research Institute of Forestry. The territory is divided into three zones: lower, middle and upper.

Kurortny Prospect (the main transport artery of Sochi) in 1938 separated the lower part of the complex, which was called the Lower Park. The upper and middle parts were united under the general name of the Upper Park. Later they were connected by a tunnel, which was laid under the avenue. The exit from it is decorated with a rotunda - an elegant structure with semicircular arches. It is the entrance to the upper part of the park, which occupies a rather steep slope of Lysaya Gora.

Upper park

Built on the model of terraced park complexes in Italy. Most of this territory is occupied by horizontal ledges. They are covered with amazing specimens of flora from different countries of the world.

Lower park

This part of the park occupies a flat area. It is characterized by a clear layout: paths and shady paths branch off from the main alley in different directions. Along them you can see the architectural and plant exhibits of the Museum of Woody Nature. There are also ponds that are popular with swans and ducks. In the center of one of the ponds, on an artificial small island, there is a snow-white statue of Neptune, which contrasts with the lush greenery of willows, firs and cypresses that grow along the banks of the reservoir.

Aquarium and terrarium

This pavilion is very popular with tourists. It is located in the grandiose architectural structure of the Lower Park. More than one hundred and fifty cubic meters of water, which fill the aquarium, made it possible to accommodate 27 species of fish living in the Black Sea, as well as many exotic inhabitants of the Red Sea: shrimps of various species, anemones, corals and hedgehogs. The Marine Aquarium is a fantastic sight that will leave an unforgettable experience not only for children, but also for adults.

There is also a terrarium in the same building. The rarest representatives of reptiles and amphibians live here: the rattlesnake snake, the unique piranha lizard, etc.

Vegetation

Rare plants are represented in the park by more than 1500 species / varieties of trees and shrubs. In certain areas of the park, cultures grow that are characteristic of a particular country or region. Two thousand pines of 76 varieties and species, several varieties of cypresses, maples, chestnuts, exotic plants of the subtropics and tropics have perfectly adapted here.

It is unlikely that any of the visitors will pass by the unusually beautiful Chilean Jubaea palm tree, will not admire the bluish leaves of another exotic beauty of the erythea palm tree, and the butia attracts the guests of the park not only with its luxurious crown, but also with fruits that have a pineapple aroma.

The variegated leaves of huge liriodendrons are striking in their unusual colors. The European and Himalayan trachikarpus martiusa (metasequoia), together with 23 species of bamboo, and several species of twisting Chinese wisteria, which in April is covered with magnificent clusters of lilac flowers, complete the collection of exotic plants.

Tourists are especially impressed by giant plane trees. They were planted back in 1913. Today, the thickness of the trunks of some specimens reaches three meters.

The collection of conifers is also very diverse: cedars and pines, spruces and cypresses, thuja. All these plants are represented by dozens of species. The color of their needles ranges from bluish-gray to bright green.

Dendropark (Sochi), reviews of which are left by almost all visitors, has another unique colorful place. In the rose garden, you can admire the magnificent flowering of more than 100 varieties of plants of Russian and foreign selection, which form a unique motley and fragrant carpet of fresh flowers.

Glade of Friendship

If you visit a tour of the arboretum, then you will definitely be shown the Friendship Glade, which was founded in 1960. A huge number of magnolia bushes grow here. According to a long-standing tradition, they are planted by honorary visitors of the dendrological garden.

During the flowering period, the glade becomes covered with pink, white, lilac and lilac shades, from which it is impossible to take your eyes off. No less interesting is another miracle of the amazing park, created by human hands - the "Tree of Friendship". This is an original collection of citrus fruits under one crown: lemons, oranges, grapefruits and tangerines. This tree also became a unique result of collaboration between botanists and breeders. The Arboretum in Sochi is an amazing park of wonders and beauty that every guest of the city should see.

Sochi, arboretum: how to get there?

The unique park is located at 74 Kurortny prospect. You can enter it through the Central Gate located at the Upper Park. You can walk from the coast or Lower Park to the gate. True, it should be borne in mind that in this case it will be necessary to go up the hill.

If this method does not suit you, then you can use the cable car. It has two stations: Arboretum Top and Arboretum Niz. The cable cars leave from the lower level every 15 minutes. The ride becomes a real attraction: a leisurely climb will allow you to enjoy the picturesque views.

To get to the park from the city center, you need to get to the “Circus” stop. Numerous buses and minibuses will bring you here, and from the neighboring resort areas. For example, buses No. 105 and 105c stop here, which follow the route Bus Station - Rosa Khutor and back, there are routes that go from the railway station, checkpoint "Psou", Iskra, Mamayka microdistricts, from the stop "Kinoteatr Aelita".

Arboretum (Sochi): how to get from Adler?

This question is of interest to many vacationers. Arboretum (Sochi) - Adler - this is the route of buses No. 125, 125 p. You can take a route taxi No. 124 s and get to the stop "Park" Arboretum "". Transport runs very often.

From Loo and Lazarevskoye you can take bus number 155 to Sochi. Then, at the Sanatornaya stop, change to bus number 18. There is another option - take an electric train to the Sochi train station, then take one of the many regular buses to the Tsirk stop.

Description of plants

Main route

The main entrance of the arboretum is designed as a semicircular rotunda. We go up the stairs, on both sides of which large oleander bushes (1) - Nerium oleander L.Kutrov family - Apocynaceae.

Its homeland is the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe and North Africa.

Oleander is a beautiful ornamental shrub up to 7 meters in height, with evergreen foliage, widely cultivated in Sochi and its environs to decorate parks, streets, highways. Oleander is especially decorative during flowering, which lasts from June to September and even in October. The station in the park and in its nurseries has a rich collection of oleander. Here are collected forms with different colors, with simple and double flowers, with flowers that do not have aroma and have a delicate, pleasant scent. The best forms are recommended for decorating the resort's parks.

In addition to its decorative value, oleander also has medicinal value: from the leaves and bark of oleander, the glucoside neriolin is obtained, which is used to treat certain heart diseases. At the same time, the leaves and flowers of plants contain a number of poisonous glucosides that can cause poisoning.

Oleander can withstand short-term frosts down to -9, -10 °, but during unexpected cold snaps in November and December, it sometimes gets severe damage at -7 °, but after frosts it easily and quickly recovers.

Climbing the stairs to the first platform with a round flower bed, in the center of which there is a beautiful marble column with a vase, we see on the right side in front of us a slender coniferous tree - Italian pine (2) - Pinus pinea L.Pine family - Pinaceae.

This tree with a beautiful umbrella-shaped crown comes from southern Europe and Asia Minor, where it grows up to 25 meters in height.

Italian pine wood is used as a building material. Large pine cones contain a large number of seeds, the core of which is eaten. In terms of taste and nutritional value, the kernel of the seeds of the Italian pine exceeds the kernel of the Siberian cedar pine, the so-called Siberian cedar - Pinus sibirica Mayr.

In Sochi, the Italian pine is completely acclimatized, and it can be grown on the coast up to Gelendzhik.

Climbing higher along the path, let us pay attention to the 31 small-sized tree with bluish-grayish leaves growing in the central part of the curtain. it ash eucalyptus (3) - Eucalyptus cinerea F. Muell.Myrtle family - Myrtaceae.

Ash eucalyptus belongs to the vast genus of eucalyptus, in which there are more than 500 species. His homeland is Australia. Eucalyptus is one of the fastest growing breeds.

In the conditions of the Soviet subtropics, certain types of eucalyptus reach a height of 25-27 meters in 12-13 years with a trunk diameter of more than half a meter. Seedlings of these types of eucalyptus grow up to 7-8 meters in height in three years.

Eucalyptus wood is strong, resistant to decay and has a wide variety of uses. Its leaves give an essential oil, which is used in technology, perfumery and medicine. In humid air, leaves emit a large amount of aromatic substances and heal it. Eucalyptus is decorative and is used for landscaping cities and highways.

Unfortunately, eucalyptus trees are not frost-resistant, and lower temperatures down to -8, -10 ° C cause severe damage to the branches and even the entire aerial part of the tree. However, after frost, they quickly recover with shoots.

Soviet scientists are working to improve the frost resistance of this valuable tree. The station has developed agricultural instructions for growing eucalyptus trees in the open field from the moment of sowing. The proposed agricultural practices not only significantly reduce the cost of planting material and planting operations, but also, more importantly, increase the viability of eucalyptus trees.

Continuing the excursion, we rise higher towards the pavilion with columns, in front of which the group has landed rhododendron indian, or Indian azalea (4) - Rhododendron indicum Sweet.Heather family - Ericaceae.

Indian rhododendron is an evergreen or semi-evergreen low shrub that is prized for its early spring long and very abundant flowering. The main species has red flowers, and garden hybrids have a wide variety of colors and shades. Requires acidic soil and a little shade for successful growth. In the parks of the Black Sea coast, it is widely used for landscaping. Grows well in pot culture. The native land of Indian rhododendron is Japan, where it grows in the undergrowth in mixed forests.

After examining the rhododendrons, we go out to the site in front of the gazebo. Let's pass by the sculpture of a lion and pay attention to a small tree with a spherical crown growing on the left side. it laurel (5) - Laurus nobilis L. Laurel family - Lauraceae.

Homeland of the noble laurel of the Mediterranean. In Transcaucasia, wild laurel grows in the foothill zone up to 300 meters above sea level. This evergreen tree up to 10-12 meters in height provides a valuable raw material for the culinary and canning industry (bay leaves). Blossoms in April with whitish-yellow fragrant flowers. The fruit is a blue-black drupe. Fatty oil is extracted from the fruit, which is used in medicine and perfumery. The wood is hard, resilient, with a pleasant smell, which is used for various turning products.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, almost all natural laurel thickets were exterminated, and the laurel leaves were brought to us from abroad. During the years of Soviet power, extensive work was carried out to restore natural laurel thickets and create industrial plantations. Large industrial plantations have been created in recent years. If in the vicinity of Sochi until recently there were only a few dozen hectares of laurel, then in 1961 the area of ​​plantations increased to 450 hectares. By 1965, it is planned to create more than 1000 hectares of laurel plantations in the Krasnodar Territory.

Laurel is widely used in green building as a curb plant, as well as for groups and edges. In the north, it is successfully used as a good tub culture.

Sochi NILOS has developed methods of vegetative propagation of laurel, which are of great importance for the creation of uterine seed plantations.

Let's enter the gazebo and look at the beautiful liana winding around the gazebo - wisteria, or Chinese wisteria (6) - Wisteria sinensis Sweet.Legume family - Leguminosae.

Wisteria is one of the most beautiful vines in China. Its powerful stems, twisting around the supports, grow up to 20 meters or more in length, forming dense weaves, resembling a tangle of giant snakes. Wisteria is especially beautiful during flowering - in April and May, when its large inflorescences up to 30-40 centimeters long hang down in a solid carpet.

Wisteria is not demanding on the soil and tolerates the climate of the south of Ukraine well, which makes it a valuable plant for landscaping the southern cities of the Soviet Union.

In Japan, young leaves, flowers and grains of wisteria are eaten. Fabrics are made from the fibers of the stems, and young shoots are used for weaving baskets.

A little higher than wisteria on curtain 35, small trees of valuable coniferous tree grow - yew berry (7) - Taxus baccata L.Yew family - Taxaceae.

It is one of the valuable local tree species that is famous for its reddish wood, which is why the tree is sometimes called Caucasian mahogany. The branches and needles of the yew tree are poisonous. However, the seeds covered with fleshy seedlings are harmless. Yew trees are very durable and live up to 4000 years, reaching 20 meters in height and 1 meter in diameter. The wood is of high quality and is currently used for cladding expensive furniture and other valuable crafts.

After resting in the gazebo, we go out to the site with a drinking column. From here we continue our way along the path between curtains 37 and 34. We walk a few steps along the path, get acquainted with a beautiful palm tree on curtain 37 - date canary (8) - Phoenix canariensis Hort.Palm family - Palmae.

The birthplace of the palm tree, as the name itself says, is the Canary Islands, where it reaches 15 meters in height. The fruits of the Canary date do not represent nutritional value, although they are similar to the fruits of another type of date palm - date finger - Phoenix dactyfera L., which gives a well-known market product - dates.

In the southern cities of our Motherland, palm trees are widely used to decorate streets, parks, squares and other places. In the north, palms are grown in tub culture.

In terms of decorative value, the Canary date is one of the first among the palms grown on the Black Sea coast.

Most palm species are plants in tropical and warm subtropical regions of the globe. Palm trees are highly decorative plants, giving their slender trunks and powerful crown of fan or feathery leaves a specific landscape to the southern countries.

In their homeland, many of the palms are of great economic importance as fruit and technical plants. An example is the coconut tree. Its trunks are used for buildings, the leaves serve as roofing material and are used to make ropes, and the fruits are a valuable nutritious product.

On the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, 23 species of palm trees grow in open ground. Despite the fact that our park is the northernmost dendrological park of the Caucasus coast, 11 species of palm trees are grown here. To protect against winter frosts, palm trees are carefully covered in December.

We will get acquainted with the other most interesting types of palm trees along the route.

Behind the Canary date, an obliquely growing coniferous tree attracts attention - cryptomeria japanese elegant (9) - Cryptomeria japonica f. elegans Mast.Taxodia family - Taxodiaceae.

Her homeland is Japan. Elegant Japanese cryptomeria is one of the decorative forms of the main species of this tree. The plant is especially impressive in autumn, when its delicate needles acquire a reddish-brick color. All plants of this form are inclined in most cases towards the sea.

Japanese cryptomeria has a number of other forms.

On curtain 34, a small tree with serpentine shoots grows - this is Japanese araucaria cryptomeria.

The main species, although less beautiful, is a valuable species that gives a large amount of wood. Large trees of the main species grow in the lower part of the park on clumps 11 and 16.

Let's walk a little along the path, pay attention to two small trees growing on curtain 34 beven sweet, or a candy tree (10), - Hovenia dulcis Thunb. Buckthorn family - Rham naceae.

Govenia is a beautiful deciduous tree, up to 15 meters in height, originally from China. Its small fragrant flowers give a good bribe to bees. In October - November, fruits ripen, resembling balls about 0.5 centimeters in size, which are located on fleshy stalks. The stalks contain over 20 percent sugar and are quite palatable.

The wood of govens is used in furniture production.

Climbing higher along the path, on curtain 34 we will examine hybrid catalpa (11) - Catalpa hybrida Spaeth.Bignoids family - Bignoniaceae.

Catalpas are beautiful park and forest trees that grow very quickly at a young age.

The homeland of the catalps is North America and East Asia. A number of hybrids are known in culture, which include this specimen with large beautiful purple falling leaves. Catalpa is most effective during flowering, when the whole tree is covered with large inflorescences of whitish flowers.

Catalpa wood is very light, with a beautiful grayish brown pattern. Catalps are widely used in the parks and forest parks of the coast as ornamental species to create groups and alleys. They easily propagate by seeds, for successful development they need fertile soil, are quite frost-resistant and are successfully grown in the south of Ukraine, the Kuban, and in a number of other southern regions of the USSR.

After inspecting the catalpa, we turn left along the path. Here on the right side on curtain 46 we will get acquainted with crimson European (12) - Cercis siliquastrum L.Legume family - Leguminosae.

His homeland is Southern Europe and Western Asia. The scarlet blooms in early spring and is very abundant. During the flowering period, its branches are covered with clusters of small pink, red or lilac flowers. An interesting feature of scarlet is its ability to form flowers and then fruits on branches and even trunks. Crimson grass is drought-resistant, can grow on dry, stony and calcareous soils. It is widespread in Crimea, where it creates bright colorful spots at the time of flowering. The scarlet grows up to 8-10 meters in height and 30 centimeters or more in diameter.

Continuing the excursion, we come to several honeysuckle bushes Standish (13) - Lonicera Standishii Carr. Family of honeysuckle - Caprifoliaceae.

The homeland of Standish's honeysuckle is Western China, where it forms spreading bushes up to 3 meters in height. As an ornamental shrub, honeysuckle is prized for its winter flowering. In Sochi, it blooms from December to March. The flowers have a strong, pleasant scent.

Several evergreen trees grow near the honeysuckle. eriobotria, or Japanese medlar (14) - Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.Family of rosaceae - Rosaceae.

This is a wonderful frost-resistant ornamental and fruit tree of the subtropics, originally from Central China. The sour-sweet juicy fruits of Eriobotria ripen in May or early June, that is, at a time of year when there are still very few fruits. The fruits are rich in vitamins and iron salts.

Large seeds are used to make a coffee substitute and to make a liqueur with a bitter almond flavor. Unfortunately, the fruits do not tolerate long storage and transportation. They are used fresh and in the canning industry for the preparation of refreshing sour-sweet compotes.

On the other side of the path, on curtain 37, we will examine a low shrub with small leaves. it Erica Pink (15) - Erica carnea L.Heather family - Ericaceae.

Her homeland is Central and Southern Europe. A short shrub with evergreen needle-like leaves resembling pine needles. Blooms in winter, forming a mass of small pink flowers, collected at the tops of the shoots.

Continuing the excursion, we come to curtain 45, along the edge of which original trees with dense leathery leaves are planted. The trees were named by botanists as legcarp. Let's get acquainted with large-leaved cephalic (16) - Podocarpus macrophyllum Don. and Nagi's legcarp (71) - Podocarpus Nageia. R. Br.Family of legcarp - Podocapraceae.

The homeland of the leg beetles is China. These rather hardy original trees are used as ornamental plants in coastal parks.

We go up the path between curtains 45 and 46 and examine another interesting coniferous tree on curtain 45 - metasequoia disseminated (18) - Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng.Taxodia family - Taxodiaceae.

In 1944, a Chinese forester, Wang Chen, in the mountain forests of Sichuan province, discovered unknown powerful trees with a pyramidal crown and needles falling for the winter.

After study, it was found that these trees are living representatives of the metasequoia, considered extinct. From that time, botanists began to spread the metasequoia throughout all countries.

Metasequoia forms powerful trees up to 100 meters in height. It adapts well to various climatic conditions. Now it can be seen in Sochi and in the botanical gardens of Leningrad and Moscow.

Having examined the metasequoia, we will get acquainted with two groups of ornamental plants on curtain 46. First, let's pay attention to the group magonium(Mahonia). Family of barberry - Berberidaceae.

Magonium are evergreen shrubs close to barberries. Flowers are yellow, in clusters, leaves are feathery, often prickly at the edges.

In the forests of Western North America, they grow in the undergrowth mahonia holly (19) - Mahonia aquifolium Nutt., dense shrub up to 1 meter in height with dark green leaves; Japanese mahonia (20) - M. japonica DC and close to her Mahonia Biel (21) - M. Bealii Carr. from China - straight-growing shrubs up to 2 meters in height with hard prickly ornamental leaves and winter flowering; Mahonia Fortune (22) - Mahonia Fortunei Fedde- a low shrub with narrow lobes of dark green leaves. Mahonium is used for decoration of squares, parks and lawns.

Above the group of magonia, let's examine the group viburnum - Viburnum. Family of honeysuckle - Caprifoliaceae.

The various viburnums collected in the group represent interesting ornamental shrubs that are widely used in landscaping on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Among them Japanese evergreen viburnum (23) - Viburnum japonicum Spreng. with large inflorescences directed upwards, and shiny light green heart-shaped leaves; viburnum hanging (24) - Viburnum suspensum Lindl cream-colored flowers in small drooping inflorescences; both from Japan; fragrant viburnum (25) - Viburnum adoratissimum Ker. with large dark green elliptical leaves from South China; Viburnum retina (26) - Viburnum rhytidophyllum Hemsl, with narrow, dark green on top and white tomentose underneath strongly wrinkled leaves from Central and Western China; viburnum laurel (27) - Viburnum tinus L. from the Mediterranean, blooming in winter, and deciduous viburnum vulgaris sterile, or snowball (28),- Viburnum opulus f. rosea L. with sterile flowers, collected in the form of a white ball.

Having familiarized ourselves with the viburnum, we turn left along the path. Here, on curtain 48, we will examine camphor cinnamon, or camphor tree (29) - Cinnamomum camphora Nees et Eberm.Laurel family - Lauraceae.

Camphor cinnamon is a beautiful evergreen tree. It contains a large amount of essential oil, from which camphor is obtained, which is used in medicine. Wild camphor cinnamon grows in China and Japan. Leaves and young shoots are used for industrial use. Camphor is also used in technology in the manufacture of celluloid, disinfectants, explosives, etc. In the Soviet Union, synthetic camphor is widely used, obtained from fir oil and turpentine.

Camphor wood is very durable and hardly damaged by pests.

On the coast, camphor cinnamon is widely planted as an ornamental tree.

This is a beautiful plant in the form of a bush or small tree up to 10 meters in height. It comes from South China and Indochina.

Young, specially prepared leaves of the tea bush are a product that is used to make the well-known tea drink. The collected twigs of a tea bush with 3-4 leaves, the so-called flushes, are first slightly dried, then they are twisted and placed in a humid chamber, where the fermentation process takes place at a certain temperature, and then, after drying, the finished product is obtained. The best manufactured teas are subjected to a number of other operations that give it aroma and other qualities that increase its value. Collecting flashes during the growing season is repeated several times. The more harvests, the higher the yield.

The value of the tea drink lies in the fact that it contains caffeine, which has a stimulating effect on the body. The tannins contained in tea contribute to the accumulation of vitamins in the body. In addition, tea contains a number of vitamins, including vitamin P.

In Russia, tea began to be consumed at the end of the 17th century. Having got used to it, Russia began to import it in large quantities from China and India. In the middle of the 19th century, tea plants were first brought to the Crimea and the Caucasus, but tea gained industrial development only during the years of Soviet power.

Our scientists have achieved great success in promoting tea. Foreign science determines the possibility of its growth in those areas where frosts do not reach 12 °. Soviet scientists, using the Michurin method of gradual acclimatization of plants, advanced tea to the foothill regions of Ukraine.

Caffeine is prepared from coarse leaves and tea dust, which is obtained by sorting it. The seeds contain up to 45 percent fatty oil, which is used in soap making, and when refining it from certain substances, and as a food product. In addition, tea is a good decorative evergreen with beautiful white flowers that bloom in late autumn.

Thanks to the work of Soviet scientists, the industrial culture of tea became possible in the Krasnodar Territory. The area of ​​tea plantations is constantly increasing, and the country receives more and more products every year. If in 1953 the tea factories of the region produced 119 tons of long tea, then in 1958 - already 346 tons. By 1965, the yield of tea production will rise to several thousand tons.

Continuing the excursion, we go out to the alley washingtonium filamentous (31)- Washingtonia filifera H. Wendl.Palm family - Palmae.

The palm tree comes from the desert regions of North America - from Southern California to Colorado and Arizona. She is the most beautiful representative of the fan-leaved palm group. In the arboretum, Washingtonia is represented by specimens reaching 18-20 meters in height at the age of about 70 years.

Washingtonia blooms and bears fruit on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Now the station is growing seedlings from seeds collected in Sochi. These plants will be even more hardy.

As one of the most beautiful and frost-hardy palms, Washingtonia should be widespread on the coast.

Before going into the palm alley, we climb a little up the path to curtain 61. Here we will examine blue fan palm (32) - Erythea armata S. Wats.Palm family - Palmae.

The native land of the palm tree is California. In the conditions of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, the blue palm tree feels good and even in the harsh winters of 1949-50 and 1963/64 almost did not suffer. Its seeds ripen only in the second year after flowering, and in our conditions, unripe seeds usually die in winter.

With its large, light blue foliage and beautiful hanging flowers, it is valued as a highly decorative plant and deserves widespread cultivation in coastal parks.

Several original plants grow next to the blue palm tree drooping cycad (33) - Cycas revoluta Thunb.- Cycad family - Cycadaceae.

Outwardly, the cycads resemble palms. In fact, they are related to the ferns from which they originated. In turn, the cycads laid the foundation for modern gymnosperms. The homeland of the drooping cycad is South Japan, the island of Taiwan, Southeast China. Cycads are evergreens; in their homeland they reach 3 meters in height. The trunk is covered with scales, under which "babies" are sometimes formed, which are used for reproduction of the cycad.

The cycad drooping on the coast is used in landscaping as an ornamental plant. It can also be used as an indoor culture.

In harsh winters, the leaves of the cycads freeze over, so they are covered for the winter. At home, a surrogate sago is mined from the core of the trunk.

Having examined these two rocks, we return to the palm alley. Here, on the left side, on curtain 50, we will see banana japanese (34) - Musa basjoo Sieb. et Zucc.Banana family - Musaceae.

Bananas come from the humid subtropical regions of East Asia and are perennial herbaceous plants with a powerful rhizome, from which a very short trunk barely protrudes from the ground. Large leaves are very closely attached to the trunk, rising in some species up to 15 meters in height. The lower part of the leaves (tube) forms a false stem. During flowering, the banana develops a powerful inflorescence. It grows very quickly and, passing the tube of leaves, bends downward under the leaves in the form of a huge brush, on which a large number of fruits are located. After fruiting, the entire aerial part dies off.

There are edible and inedible banana varieties. The type of banana growing in our country is inedible. In Japan, fiber is extracted from its leaves, which is used for the manufacture of lightweight fabrics. Banana leaves are good livestock feed.

A large yield of green mass makes it a promising plant - a source of succulent forage. The edible banana species are native to tropical climates.

On the opposite side, there are several trees of valuable subtropical species - mandarin seedless (35) - Citrus unshiu Sw. Root family - Rutaceae.

Seedless tangerine is a representative of the citrus genus, which also includes lemon, orange, grapefruit, etc. Citrus fruits produce fruits that are excellent in taste and dietary qualities. They are rich in sugars, citric acid, vitamins A, B, C and P.

Seedless mandarin is more frost-hardy than lemon and orange. In winter, it can withstand up to 9 ° frost and therefore is much more widespread on the coast. At present, Soviet breeders are working to increase the frost resistance of tangerines and other citrus fruits.

Seedless tangerine, like lemon, is an excellent plant for indoor crops, and you can grow it in a room in Sochi and Murmansk.

Continuing the excursion, we come to the central staircase, which overlooks the main fountain. The stairs at the beginning and end are decorated pyramidal cypresses (36) - Cupressus sempervirens f. stricta Ait.Cypress family - Cupressaceae.

There are two forms of evergreen cypress: pyramidal - f. stricta ait and horizontal - f. horizontalis Mill. The first form is the most beautiful. In the imagination of any person, the southern landscape is unthinkable without slender cypresses. The wild cypress tree does not grow now, as it was widely cultivated already in ancient times in Asia Minor, North Africa and southern Europe.

Cypresses are of great economic importance. It is a fast growing and durable breed. The age limit for the cypress is 2000 years. The tree grows most rapidly in the first 30-40 years, and by the age of 100 it finishes its growth, reaching 40 meters in height. The cypresses that you see in front of you are almost 30 meters high (about 70 years old).

Cypress wood is yellow-brown in color, aromatic, solid, durable in earth and water, finds various applications in the joinery industry.

After examining the cypresses, we go up the stairs and, turning left, we come to curtain 59.

This site is mainly planted with plant species originating from the semi-desert regions of Mexico and South America. Therefore, the site was named "Mexican Corner". Using the example of the external and internal structure of these plants, one can trace how close the relationship between plants and their environment is. This relationship, the appropriateness of the structure and lifestyle of the body was first scientifically substantiated Charles Darwin in the doctrine of natural and artificial selection.

Plants of the "Mexican Corner" in the process of evolutionary development have adapted to arid growing conditions. This adaptation is expressed in different ways in different plants. However, in all cases it ensures normal growth and development of the organism in dry climates.

The most interesting plant of the group is American agave (37) - Agave americana L.Amaryllis family - Amaryllidaceae.

In Mexico, the region of its natural growth, agave has more than 100 species. Agaves are characterized by massive, fleshy leaves covered with thick skin and a bluish waxy coating. It seems odd that such a large, succulent plant can thrive in the nearly arid regions of Mexico. Where does it get moisture from? If you carefully examine the agave, she herself will give an answer to this question. Its fleshy leaves have large aquiferous cells, in which moisture accumulates during the rainy winter period, and the thick leaf skin and waxy coating protect the plant from excessive evaporation. In addition, the massive leaves of the agave are strongly cooled at night in summer, atmospheric moisture condenses on them and, flowing down the surface of the leaves, it is intercepted by the roots. Thus, the plant regularly replenishes its moisture reserves from the atmosphere.

At home, many types of agave find a variety of uses. Young leaves of some species are used as food and medicine. From the leaves of a number of agave species, strong fiber is obtained, which goes to ropes and coarse fabrics.

In the Sochi region, during flowering, at the 10-15th year of life, agave throws out a huge peduncle up to 7 meters in height. To feed the mass of fruits, she spends the nutrients accumulated during her life, and she herself dies. If the peduncle is cut off at the beginning of flowering, the plant still supplies juice to it. Mexicans prepare an alcoholic drink "pulque" from it. Common on the coast, American agave is one of the frost-resistant species of agave and is widely used as an ornamental plant.

Plants resembling a palm tree grow in large numbers here. This is yucca. We will consider only one type - yucca glorious (38) - Yucca gloriosa L.Liliaceae family - Liliaceae.

These beautiful plants with a tuft of dagger-like leaves at the top of the stem are native to the arid regions of the southern Atlantic coast of North America.

Thin leaves of yucca, devoid of fleshy tissues, are covered with a dense waxy coating. At home, yucca grows only during the rainy season - in early spring. In the dry season, growth stops, and the plant seems to freeze. All this gives him the ability to endure extreme heat and drought.

Yuccas are very decorative during flowering, when they form huge inflorescences (sultans), covered with milky white bell-shaped large flowers. At home, yucca is used as a plant producing coarse textile fiber. Young leaves and finely chopped stems are used for roughage. The population uses the fruits of some types of yucca in its homeland.

11 yucca species are grown on the Black Sea coast. More than half of this amount has been collected in our park. All species are quite frost-hardy in Sochi, and filamentous yucca can be grown in more northern regions. It can withstand short-term frosts up to 25 °.

Several bushes grow near the platform with a balustrade. collection cruciform (39) - Colletia cruciata Hook.Buckthorn family - Rhamnaceae.

This plant from the arid subtropical regions of South America, adapting to semi-arid growing conditions, acquired an original appearance in the process of evolution. He has leaves only during the first period of growth of shoots, then they disappear, and their function (assimilation) is taken by green stems and shoots, forming large, strong thorns. The flowers of the collection are small and numerous, with a pleasant almond aroma.

Next to the cruciform collection, another species grows - collection prickly (40) - Colletia spinosa Lindl., with round thorns.

In coastal parks both of these species are breeding! as original ornamental plants.

On the example of the considered plants, one can see only to a small extent how different ways the plants adapt to the same environmental conditions. Revealing the regularities of the relationship between the organism and the environment allows our scientists to quickly find the necessary ways to transform the nature of plants.

Continuing our inspection of the park, we go around the "Mexican Corner" along the upper side of curtain 59 and go down a small staircase to the platform with the "Dancer" sculpture. Here on the right side we see valuable fruit-bearing deciduous shrub - Garnet (41) - Punica granatum L.Pomegranate family - Punicaceae.

The homeland of the pomegranate is Eastern Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Its garden forms give rather large fruits weighing up to 700 grams each. The fruits of the wild pomegranate are 2-3 times smaller, but they also produce a sour-sweet juice. The juice is used to prepare soft drinks and lemonade syrups, as well as citric acid.

As an ornamental plant, pomegranate is very effective during flowering and ripening. Its large flowers and fruits are colored red and stand out beautifully against the background of light greenery. There are garden forms that differ in size, shape and color of flowers (from white to bright red).

An additional route begins from the site with the "Dancer" sculpture to inspect the floristic area of ​​the Caucasus and some other geographic regions. The description of the additional route begins on page 82.

Continuing along the main route, we come to the hedge of curtain 59, which is grown from ponzirus three-leafed (42) - Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.Root family - Rutaceae.

His homeland is China. The dense, thorny ponzirus bushes are excellent hedges. Poncirus is closely related to such valuable plants as lemon, orange, tangerine and other citrus fruits. It is widely used as a stock for these valuable plants. However, the fruits of the poncirus itself have a bitter taste and a pungent unpleasant odor. Poncirus is a deciduous frost-resistant plant that can withstand frosts up to 20 °. Soviet breeders widely use it for hybridization when breeding frost-resistant citrus plants.

We walk along the fence to the palm alley, turn right. Let's go a little forward, on the left side, on curtain 52, inspect a small evergreen shrub - fragrant daphne (43) - Daphne odora Thunb.Wolf family - Thymelaeaceae.

The homeland of fragrant daphne is China and Japan. It is highly regarded as an ornamental shrub of winter and spring flowering. Daphna flowers have a strong, pleasant scent. In the south, it is grown outdoors, and in the north as a tub plant.

At home - in Brazil, it forms trees up to 30 meters in height with a spreading crown and an original tiered arrangement of branches. Leaves tightly surround the shoots and give them an original look. On the coast, araucaria is used as an ornamental tree.

Here, at the edge of the curtain, we will examine gardenia jasmine (45) - Gardenia jasminoides Ellis.Madder family - Rubiaceae.

A small evergreen shrub, up to 1 meter high, with hard shiny evergreen leaves, originally from China. The flowers are white, large and very fragrant. Blooms from May to October. Requires well-drained, nutritious acidic soils for better growth and faster flowering. The most interesting are large-flowered double varieties, widely used in landscaping on the Black Sea coast. Suitable for indoor culture. Propagated by seeds and cuttings.

Feijoa is a beautiful ornamental shrub up to 3 meters high, native to South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay). The underside of its leaves is covered with silvery hairs, which gives the bushes an original look. Feijoa has oval-shaped fruits, creamy fruit pulp with a pleasant, refreshing taste and strawberry aroma. Fruits ripen in November - December. They are consumed fresh and processed.

The shrub is especially decorative during flowering, when the bush is covered with a mass of bright flowers. The flower petals are white on the upper side and pink on the bottom. In addition, in the center, they are decorated with a large bundle of long red stamens. From the fleshy sweet petals of flowers, they make a wonderful jam. Feijoa is a frost-hardy shrub that can withstand short-term frosts up to 16 °.

After acquaintance with the feijoa, we will come to the "sink" fountain, located in the open area. A number of aquatic plants are grown in its pool during the summer. The most beautiful of them is victoria krutschana (47) - Victoria cruziana Orbign.Water lily family - Nymphaceae.

Rice. 6. Fountain "sink" with aquatic plants. Victoria cruciana is in bloom

Victoria Cruciana is native to South America, where it grows on the Parana River. Victoria blooms from July to October with beautiful white flowers about 20 centimeters in diameter. The bud, emerging from the water to the surface, opens in one evening. The next day after blooming, the petals turn purple and the flower begins to close. By the morning of the next day, it closes completely and goes under the water, where the seeds ripen. In cool weather, this whole process is somewhat lengthened. At a temperature of 12-15 ° C the plant dies.

Seeds of victoria crucian are harvested in the fall, after the onset of cold weather. In January-February, they are sown in greenhouses in cans of water at a temperature of 25-30 ° C. Young plants are planted in outdoor pools when the water temperature reaches 20-22 ° C in the morning.

In addition to Victoria, the following are cultivated in the pool: nile blue lily (48) - Nymphaea coerulea Sav. originally from North Africa. Its pale blue flowers bloom at 7 am and close by 4 pm; leaves are oval, shiny, smooth; far eastern giant water lily (49) - Euryale ferox Salisb. with large brownish-red wrinkled leaves covered with thorns, the underside of which is purple; small flowers - purple; under our conditions it multiplies by self-seeding; water hyacinth (50) - Eichornia crassipes Solms., the leaves of which are turned into air sacs, which makes it possible for the plant to easily float on the water. Its roots are long and well branched. When rooted in the ground of a reservoir, hyacinth develops and blooms especially magnificently. The flowers are pale lilac, outwardly reminiscent of the sultan of an ordinary hyacinth. At home in Central America, water hyacinths multiply in huge numbers and sometimes make navigation difficult.

Aquatic plants are widely used to decorate ponds, swimming pools, etc. Many of these plants are used to decorate the aquatic devices of our arboretum.

Continuing the excursion, we will walk from the fountain along the path between curtains 52 and 42 to a small platform on which a powerful specimen grows Georgian oak (51) - Quercus iberica Stev.Beech family - Fagaceae.

Oaks number about 600 deciduous and evergreen species, distributed mainly in the temperate and subtropical zones of the northern hemisphere. 19 species of wild oak grow in the USSR, and 43 species have been imported from other countries. The arboretum has 12 and 11 more species of oak in the nurseries of the station, that is, almost half of the total species diversity of oaks growing in the USSR.

Georgian oak is one of the main forest-forming species of the Caucasus. In terms of its economic, biological and other qualities, it differs only slightly from the summer and winter oaks, which are widespread in central Russia. Oak wood has a number of valuable properties and is widely used in the national economy. Oak is also of interest as a source of tannins for processing leather goods: its bark contains 10-11 percent of tannides. The acorns are used to make coffee, which is especially good for children, and the leaves are used to make marinades.

Georgian oak grows on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus south of Tuapse. Researches of Sochi NILOS have established a high value of it as a rootstock for grafting cork oak.

Following further, we go around the curtain 52 from the lower side along a shady path that leads us to a small flower bed. Here on the right side, on curtain 43, we will get acquainted with the valuable nut-bearing species - pecan (52) - Carya pecan Engl et Graebn.Family of walnut - Juglandaceae.

His homeland is the southern regions of North America. Pecan is a valuable nut tree, reaching 50-60 meters in height in its homeland in the best growing conditions (Arkansas state). In the conditions of the coast, it develops well, bears fruit abundantly and gives self-seeding. Differs in high productivity.

Pecans have a high taste and nutritional value: 400 grams of nut kernels contain 3445 calories, which almost corresponds to the daily requirement of a person. They are used fresh and processed. Pecan oil, which contains up to 70 percent in the kernel, also has a high taste. The nut skin is thin and easily broken with your fingers.

Propagated by seeds, and varietal pecans by grafting. Due to its powerful, well-developed root system, pecans are an excellent breed for strengthening river banks from erosion. The wood is of good quality, light brown, heavy (specific gravity 0.72), strong and resilient, well processed and polished.

Sochi NILOS surveyed all pecan trees growing on the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory and identified mother trees with valuable properties. Pecan is recommended for wide use as a nut-bearing forest and ornamental species in forests and forest parks of the coast, for casing roads, creating alleys and setting up special walnut plantations.

We will pass the area with a flower bed, go down a small staircase and come to a beautiful pinnate palm tree - wonderful anniversary, or honey palm (53), - Jubaea spectabilis HBK.Palm family - Palmae.

The native land of the palm tree is South America (Chile). Yubeya is one of the most beautiful palms brought to the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Powerful trunks and a huge cap of feathery leaves make it very decorative. Delicious palm nuts contain up to 30 percent oil. At home, in the old days, yubei was used to obtain palm honey. From one well-developed palm tree, you can get 400 liters of juice, which, when evaporated, gives 50-60 kilograms of molasses (palm honey). Jubaea is relatively hardy. If you cover it carefully, it can withstand short-term frosts up to 10-12 °.

It is the only palm tree native to the western Mediterranean of Europe and Africa. In ordinary Sochi winters, it winters well without shelter, but in severe winters it freezes underneath, although then it quickly recovers, forming a mass of new leaves and trunks.

From the leaves and hair wrapping of palm trunks, fiber is obtained, which is used for upholstery and production of rough fabrics, as well as for the manufacture of felt.

In autumn, it produces a large number of fruits that resemble dates in shape. However, the fruits have a mass of coarse fibers and do not represent nutritional value.

Let's go between the palm trees; we leave on the central staircase and go down it to the main fountain. The staircase on both sides is framed with slender Chinese fan palms (55) - Trachycarpus Fortunei H. Wendl.Palm family - Palmae.

The native land of palm trees is Central and South China. The Chinese fan palm on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus is the most widespread of all palm trees. It grows on a wide variety of soils, bears abundant fruit, gives a large amount of self-seeding and without damage can withstand short-term frosts up to 14 °. All this allows it to be widely used for landscaping parks, streets, squares, etc.

At home, palm trunks are used for poles, piles, etc. The trunk does not rot in soil and water for a long time. The fibers covering the trunk are used for upholstering upholstered furniture and for the production of rough fabrics.

Some of the Chinese fan palms are entwined with creepers - common ivy (56) - Hedera helix L.Araliev families - Araliaceae.

Continuing the excursion, we come to the fountain. The fountain pool is surrounded by a curb boxwood evergreen (57) - Buxus sernpervirens L.Boxwood family - Buxaceae.

The homeland of this type of boxwood is the Caucasus, Southern Europe and North Africa. Boxwood in forests reaches 18 meters in height, with a trunk up to 50 centimeters at the base. Its wood is heavy (specific gravity more than 1.0), very strong, of a beautiful light yellow color; it is used for the manufacture of various turning products.

Boxwood bushes lend themselves well to shading and shade, therefore boxwood is considered a valuable plant in park construction for creating green hedges, borders, for forming balls, vases, etc.; is of great value as an indoor culture.

One of the most spectacular domestic aquatic plants grows in the fountain basin - caspian lotus (58) - Nelumbo caspica Schp.Family of nymphs - Nymphaceae.

His homeland is the Volga delta and the backwaters of the Kura. Large, more than 40 centimeters in diameter, lotus leaves are covered with a waxy coating, and drops of water, falling on them, roll down like balls of mercury. The lotus is especially effective during flowering, from June to September, when its pale pink flowers up to 10 centimeters in diameter on long strong stems rise above the water.

In Sochi, the lotus winters well and does not freeze even in shallow pools.

Lotus rhizomes are edible, and its seeds contain up to 35 percent fat and are used in Eastern Transcaucasia as a delicacy, resembling hazelnuts in taste.

Following further, we will bypass the fountain and go down the stairs to the path separated from the lawn of the living Japanese spindle tree hedge (59) - Evonymus japonica L., originating from southern Japan. Euonymus family - Celastraceae.

This evergreen ornamental shrub up to 5-6 meters in height withstands 15 ° frost.

Japanese euonymus tolerates haircuts well, therefore, on the Black Sea coast, it is widely used to create evergreen sheared borders, molded balls, for single and group plantings in parks and squares. It contains a valuable substance - gutta in the bark of the stems - 6-7 percent, and in the roots - 13-19 percent).

Having got acquainted with the euonymus and having examined the opened perspective of the park, we go along the path to the right. On the right side, somewhat deep in curtain 43, grows original bush of beautiful lanceolate (60) - Callistemon lanceolatum dc. Myrtle family - Myrtaceae.

The homeland of the beautiful grasslands is Southeast Australia, where they grow in forests like undergrowth. It is an evergreen shrub with narrow lanceolate leaves and vibrant buds. The beauty of the inflorescences is the brightly colored filaments and pistils emerging from the flowers that are located around the young shoots. After flowering, woody bolls remain on the shoot, which persist for a number of years. By the location of the bolls, you can determine the growth of the plant per year.

Beauties bureaucrats withstand frosts up to 7-8 °, at lower temperatures they freeze to the ground and in spring they are renewed with pneumatic shoots.

Continuing the path, we go out to a round flower bed, in the center of which a beautiful pinnate palm tree grows - butia capitate (61) - Butia capitata Becc.Palm family - Palmae.

On the Black Sea coast, it is often found under the name capitate coconut. A fairly frost-resistant Brazilian palm tree that can withstand 15 ° frost in Sochi. The leaves are gray, feathery, up to 2.5 meters in length.

Butea capitate almost annually bears fruit abundantly and produces drupe fruits surrounded by sweet and sour edible pulp. The seeds are distinguished by good germination, contain up to 64 percent of edible oil.

Butia capitate is often used as an indoor culture.

After inspecting the boutique, turn right and, going up to the gazebo, look at it from the right side of the stairs phillirea narrow-leaved bush (62) - Phillyrea angustifolia L.Olive family - Oleaceae.

It is a beautiful evergreen shrub with small glossy leaves native to Southern Europe and North Africa. Its small flowers with a pleasant aroma contain a lot of nectar, and bees collect abundant bribes during its flowering in April-May.

Climbing into the gazebo, we will get acquainted with the liana wrapping around it - pueraria Thunberg (63) - Pueraria Thunbergiana Benth.Legume family - Leguminosae.

Her homeland is China and Japan. In Sochi, pueraria forms whips up to 20 meters over the summer. It is unpretentious and can even grow on scree.

Pueraria has various uses. Leaves and young shoots are readily eaten by livestock, and its hay is distinguished by high fodder qualities and is equated with alfalfa and clover. In China and Japan, the roots are eaten. They contain up to 40 percent starch. Pueraria stems are used to obtain fiber used in the paper and textile industries. The fabrics made from it are called "konu" and are used for summer clothes, as they are very smooth and have a refreshing effect on the skin. Pueraria is widely used to fix mountain slopes and ravines.

Ancient Chinese medicine uses a decoction of kudzu roots to treat colds, dysentery, snake bites and poisonous insects.

Following further, we leave on a large bright area. On the left side of the gazebo, we will examine a valuable coniferous tree - swamp pine (64) - Pinus palustris Mill.Pine family - Pinaceae.

Pine is one of the main forest-forming tree species in North America, north of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, Southeast Texas. At home, it reaches 30 meters in height. Possesses valuable wood. It grows relatively slowly on the coast. The needles are long, light green, hanging down. The cones are large, 20 centimeters or more long. Grows well in fertile soils.

Let's go to another gazebo, near which several bushes grow large-flowered hydrangea (65) - Hydrangea macrophylla DC.Family of saxifrage - Saxifragaceae.

A number of types of hydrangeas, especially large-flowered hydrangea, or garden hydrangea, usually called simply hydrangea, occupy a large place in the green design of our park and city. The name hydrangea hydrangea, or large-leaved hydrangea, she received from the words "gidor" - water and "angelos" - a vessel, that is, a vessel with water.

Hydrangea flowers in two colors - white and pink or red with all the transitions from white to red.

Obtaining hydrangeas with other colors - blue, blue, violet, lilac - does not depend on its varietal and species characteristics. The color of hydrangeas, their brightness and intensity depend solely on soil conditions. Neutral and alkaline soils favor the formation of pink flowers, acidic soils favor blue ones. Hydrangeas with white flowers do not change their color from soil conditions. Simple planting of hydrangeas in acidic soil does not always result in blue coloration. Blue colors can be obtained if aluminum salts are added under the plants - aluminum sulfate or aluminum-ammonium alum.

A new method of flower coloring is spraying foliage and inflorescences with a solution of aluminum alum. They are assimilated by the cells of the leaves, and the inflorescences turn blue.

Hydrangeas are very demanding on soil moisture. The best places for their growth are semi-shady places with good nutritious garden soil. Hydrangeas do not tolerate fertilization with fresh manure - after that they get sick with chlorosis.

The park contains a collection of various types and varieties of hydrangea.

Having familiarized ourselves with the hydrangeas, we go down the steps and turn left to the one leaning over the path cork oak (66) - Quercus suber L.Beech family - Fagaceae.

It is an evergreen tree native to Southern Europe and North Africa. It reaches a height of about 30 meters; its trunk is more than 1 meter in diameter. In the Caucasus, at the age of 60, well-developed trees are 22 meters high and a trunk about 1 meter in diameter. In the arboretum there is an experienced cork oak plantation, where the best trees at the age of 25 reach a height of 20 meters with a trunk of 40-50 centimeters in diameter and a cork thickness of 4 centimeters.

The trunk of a cork oak is covered with thick bark, most of which is cork. The cork does not react chemically with many reagents, wines and chemicals, which makes it a classic closure material. It is a poor conductor of heat, sound and electricity and is used as an insulating material. Insulating boards, linoleum, life belts, etc. are prepared from the waste remaining from solid cork products.

They start removing the cork when the tree reaches 15-20 years of age. The removal operation is performed in May - June. At the same time, an annular cut is made along the plug in the upper and lower parts of the barrel and then they are connected with a longitudinal cut. Prying the cork with a wooden spatula, it is easily removed in the form of a layer, separating it from other bark tissues that remain on the tree. By autumn, cork cambium forms a new cork layer up to 5 millimeters thick. The second and subsequent removals are performed every 8-10 years. In our conditions, about 10 kilograms of cork are obtained from one tree at the age of 20 years.

Sochi NILOS, on the basis of many years of work, compiled agrotechnical instructions for the cultivation and operation of this valuable breed. A new method of cultivating cork oak by grafting on local deciduous oaks has been developed and is being implemented. Of the evergreens, the cork oak can be considered a fairly frost-resistant species.

Continuing the path, we go down to the intersection of the road. Here, on the left side, on curtain 30, we see a slender coniferous tree - cedar atlas columnar (67) - Cedrus atlantica f. fastigiata Carr.Pine family - Pinaceae.

The homeland of the Atlas cedar is the mountainous regions of Algeria and Morocco. Cedar is a fast-growing slender tree with green or more often bluish needles, reaching 46 meters in height with a trunk diameter of 3 meters; hardy and can withstand frost 25 °.

Atlas cedar wood is highly regarded as a building material in joinery. As a beautiful tree, cedar is used in decorative plantings, especially its garden forms - silvery and columnar gray.

After examining the cedar, turn right and on the left side on curtain 30 we will get acquainted with a valuable technical breed - eucommia elm (68) - Eucommia ulmoides OlivThe eucommia family - Eucommiaceae.

Her homeland is Central China. Eucommia is a deciduous, fairly frost-resistant tree that can withstand frost-30 °. It belongs to dioecious plants. On some specimens, only female flowers are formed, while on others, male flowers. However, in our conditions, it gives viable seeds even without fertilization.

Eucommia contains up to 5 percent in the leaves and up to 10 percent in the bark of gutta, a valuable raw material for many industries.

Gutta is chemically similar to rubber, but differs from it in physical properties. It is more resistant to acids and salts, which makes it possible to use it for insulating underwater (especially sea) telegraph cables, for making chemical utensils and for other purposes. High quality rubber adhesives necessarily require the presence of gutta-percha.

In Chinese medicine, decoctions and alcoholic tinctures of eucommia bark are used to treat diseases of the kidneys, liver, rheumatism, to raise the general tone of the body. In recent years, Soviet pharmacologists have successfully used eucommia bark tincture in the treatment of hypertension.

The station has been working on the study of eucommia for several years. As a result, agricultural rules were drawn up for the cultivation of this valuable breed and seed plots were created in the mid-mountain zone.

On the other side of the path, there are two types of evergreen oak trees - gray oak (69) - Quercus glauca Thunb and Mirzin-leaved oak (70) - Quercus myrsinaefolia Blume.Beech family - Fagaceae.

Oaks come from Japan and China. Their height is 7-10 meters. On the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, they are used as ornamental plants for landscaping parks and streets. In Japan, roasted acorns of gray oak are eaten. Both species are quite frost-hardy and can withstand short-term frosts up to 16-17 ° without damage.

Almost opposite the Mirzin-leaved oak, on the left side of the path, we will examine stone oak (71) - Quercus ilex L.Beech family - Fagaceae.

Oak is native to southern Europe and North Africa, where it grows up to 25 meters in height with a trunk diameter of 60 centimeters, it lends itself well to shearing, therefore it is used on green fences, forming balls, pyramids, etc. Oak wood is very strong and heavy with a specific gravity of about 1 ,fourteen. It is used in underwater structures and for various durable products.

Stone oak - one of the most hardy evergreens - withstands more than 20 ° frost.

After examining the oaks, we go out along the path between curtains 30 and 26 to an open lawn and, crossing it, we come to tall trees radiant pine (72) - Pinus radiata Don.Pine family - Pinaceae.

The pine tree grows in California on a narrow coastal strip off the Pacific Ocean. This fast-growing tree in Sochi at the age of 60 reaches 30 meters in height with a trunk up to 80 centimeters in diameter. Up to 1.5 thousand cubic meters of valuable timber can be obtained from a hectare of 40-year-old radiant pine stands.

Continuing the excursion, we leave the stairs from the top of the arboretum. Let's move on to Kurortny prospect. The lower part of the park begins here. Along the alley of young cypresses, we will walk a little forward and, before reaching the bridge, we will go down the steps to a shady platform.

On the right side, near the road, there is a large coniferous tree with a spreading crown marsh cypress (73) - Taxodium distichum Rich.Taxodia family - Taxodiaceae.

Its homeland is the southeastern states of the United States, where it reaches 50 meters in height and 4-5 meters in diameter. An interesting feature of the bog cypress is the dropping of needles in winter. It got its name for its ability to grow in conditions of excessive moisture, when for several months, during floods or rains, the entire root system is under water. Such growing conditions caused the formation of special respiratory roots (pneumatophores) in the marsh cypress, which rise above the surface of the water.

Cypress can withstand frosts up to 25 °, therefore it can be recommended for testing in afforestation of floodplains and other excessively humid areas of the Kuban and southern Ukraine. It grows quickly and has a strong, rot-resistant wood. It is used on the coast as a forest species and thanks to its beautiful openwork needles as a highly decorative park tree.

Here, on the left, we will examine the original tree with a large number of trunks, which grows on a curtain of 20, opposite the marsh cypress. it large cypress (74) - Cupressus macrocarpa Hartw.Cypress family - Cupressaceae.

Cypress is native to California. It has a wide crown with large branches directed obliquely upwards. In some specimens, small shoots form dense branches resembling fox tails, which is why it is sometimes called foxtail cypress in America. In some cases, trees begin to branch out near the ground and form several powerful trunks, diverging in the form of a huge bush up to 25 meters in height. It is such a tree-bush in front of you. The specimen growing with one trunk is located somewhat to the right, in the depths of the curtain.

Large-fruited cypress grows well on clay, alluvial and stony soils, but always on sufficiently moist and drained soils. Its original appearance, dark green needles with a lemon scent make it a valuable tree for landscaping cities and parks.

On the same site, on the right side of the path, a large tree grows Lusitanian cypress (75) - Cupressus lusitanica Mill. Cypress family - Cupressaceae.

The homeland of the cypress is Mexico and Guatemala. Lusitanian cypress is one of the fast-growing and unpretentious tree species widely used on the coast for landscaping, creating garden and field protection belts and forest plantations. It grows up to 25 meters in height and 80 centimeters in diameter, has valuable wood, bears fruit abundantly and forms self-seeding everywhere. It has a number of garden forms, differing in the color of the needles, the nature of branching and the form of growth. The station recommends cypress for growing in the forests and forest parks of the coast.

The oak is native to eastern North America. It is a deciduous tree that grows rapidly when young.

Willow oak is moisture-loving, frost-resistant and grows well in floodplains of rivers, as well as on the slopes of mountains with fertile soil. In the USSR, it grows in the North Caucasus (Pyatigorsk).

The leaves of the oak are completely different from the leaves of the oaks that grow in our country, they rather resemble willow leaves, for which it got its name willow. The wood is heavy, durable, light brown and valuable as a commercial forest. It can be used on fresh soils of the south of the USSR as a forest and park breed.

After getting acquainted with the willow oak, let's pay attention to the growing along the banks of the stream leaf-grating bamboos (77) - Phyllostachys S. et Z.Family of cereals - Graminea.

Bamboos are common in the humid regions of the tropics of the Old and New Worlds. Small reed bamboos also grow on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Bamboos, which are tree-like cereals, grow very quickly: in 1.5-2 months, young stems reach the maximum height, in some species, 40 meters.

On the Black Sea coast, bamboos from the genus of leaf grates ( Phyllostachys S. et Zucc), whose wood is of high technical quality and is used for the manufacture of furniture, equipment, sports equipment, etc.

On curtains 5, 15, 17, 18, 21 and 56 it grows bamboo leaf grate (77) - Phyllostachys bambusoides S. et Z. This is the largest (up to 10 meters in height) leaf grate in the park. Ladders, water pipes, poles, etc. are made from its stems.

Green-blue leaf grate (78) - Phyllostachys viridiglaucescens A. et C. Riv. Its stems at a young age are distinguished by a bright green color with a blue bloom, grows on clumps 1, 4, 5, 18, 19 of the lower part of the park and on clumps 47, 56 and 68 of the upper part.

Leaf grates are also of great interest: edible (79) - Phyllostachys edulis A. et C. Riv. Its young shoots are used for food; black (80) - Ph. nigra Munro with brilliant black stems (this is the smallest of the coastal leaf grasses) and the soft grasses, Castellon shape, with a bright green stripe on the yellow stem, very decorative and technically valuable species.

Leaf grates are light-loving plants, therefore they develop best in places where there is a lot of sun. On the coast, they grow well on fertile, moist, but well-drained soils.

Leaf grates, like most bamboos, reproduce by segments of rhizomes. They develop powerful, highly branched rhizomes that protect the soil well from erosion and drift. They are widely used in landscaping and industry.

Continuing the excursion, we leave along the path to the alley from liquidambra styrax (81) - Liquidambar styraciflua L.Witch hazel family - Hamamelidaceae.

It is a deciduous tree with a pyramidal crown, native to the southeastern part of North America, where it reaches 25-30 meters in height and 60-70 centimeters in thickness. As a breed that is painted in bright multi-colored tones in the fall before the fall of leaves, Styrax liquidambar is widely used in landscaping parks and forest parks. There is a very beautiful alley made of liquidambar in Sochi on the section from Novaya to Staraya Matsesta. In terms of the brightness of the autumn color of the foliage, liquidambrus surpasses all other breeds. In addition, young spring foliage emits a peculiar balsamic smell, which remains in the leaves until autumn. Tapping liquidambur trees produces sap used in perfumery and medicine.

The wood is valuable, yellow, aromatic, goes for all kinds of crafts. It is also used as a scaffold.

Liquidamber is a fairly frost-resistant tree and can withstand temperatures up to 22 °.

After inspecting the liquidambra, we continue along the path along the stream and go out to plane tree alley (82) - Platanus orientalis L.Family of plane trees - Platanaceae.

Sycamore- a large deciduous tree, native to Southeast Europe, Western and Central Asia, Transcaucasia. Reaches huge sizes - up to 30 meters or more in height and 2-3 meters in thickness of the trunk. With free growth, forms a wide shady crown.

Ancient authors (Herodotus) have descriptions of huge plane trees, under the shadow of which up to a hundred horsemen could have taken refuge. The sycamore tree has a smooth mosaic-spotted bark. Its upper layers, peeling off, fall off as they die off.

The sycamore grows very quickly, especially at an early age, loves deep fertile soil, but can grow on the poor. Has valuable wood used for the manufacture of plywood, furniture, etc. Propagated by seeds and cuttings. It is of great interest as a forest species. Can be used for planting in parks along alleys, roads, etc.

Other types of plane trees grow here on the alley.

We will cross the plane tree alley and go out to the rose garden.

The new section of the park, created in 1960, is a collection of various roses (83) - a rose garden. Low-growing polyanthus roses are planted along the edges of the ridges. Most of the rose garden is planted with bush and standard hybrid tea roses. The collection includes more than 260 varieties of roses of various groups.

Among the varieties grown in the rose garden, the following are distinguished by the greatest decorativeness and resistance: Gloria Day, Mirandi, Jules Boucher, Punsatsia, Luna, Catherine, Ophelia, Talisman, President, etc.

Continuing the excursion from the center of the rose garden and moving towards the gazebo by the pond, we will see the climbing plants growing here.

Jacqueman's Clematis (84) - Clematis Jackmanii Moore.Buttercup family - Rananculaceae.

Jacquemann's large-flowered clematis is a hybrid between woolly clematis and purple clematis. The liana is attached to the supports with leaf stalks. The flowers are large, dark blue. Flowering is profuse and prolonged in May - June and often repeated in August - September.

It is an excellent plant for covering low arbors, trellises, fences, etc. Propagated by cuttings and grafting on the roots of other clematis.

Passiflera blue (85) - Passiflora coerulea L.Passionflower family - Passifloraceae.

Evergreen decorative liana Кз subtropical regions of Brazil. Differs in the original shape and color of flowers. Blooms in summer from June to September. On the Black Sea coast and in other subtropical countries, it is widely used for vertical gardening of arbors, fences, walls. Propagated by seeds, root and stem cuttings.

Campsis, or tekoma taking root (86), - Campsis radicans Seem.Bignonium family - Bignoniaceae.

A deciduous vine native to the southeastern states of North America. It easily attaches to various supports by aerial roots emerging from the nodes of young shoots. It blooms profusely and continuously from late June to early September. Flowers tubular * orange-red, numerous, located at the ends of young shoots. Differs in good frost resistance, powerful root system, unpretentiousness to soil conditions and rapid growth. Propagated by seeds and cuttings. It is widely used on the coast for vertical landscaping.

Akebia five-leafed (87) - Akebia quinata Decne.Lardizabaliev family - Lardizabaliaceae.

Its homeland is China and Japan, where it is used as a food plant. The fruits ripen in late autumn and taste good. In China, akebia leaves are used as a surrogate for tea, and dried fruits are used in folk medicine. At the same time, akebia is also a good ornamental plant with small fragrant purple flowers. Sochi winters endure well.

After exploring the akebia, you can relax in the gazebo on the shore of the pond, where black and white swans swim. In winter, many seagulls come here.

After resting in the gazebo, we will walk along the shore of the pond to the plane tree alley. From here we go out onto the bridge and on the right side along the bank of a small pond we see several weeping willows (88) - Salix babilonica L. Willow family - Salicaceae.

The weeping Babylonian willow is one of the most decorative willows. It is widely cultivated in landscaping works in many countries of the world. In the USSR, it can be grown up to Moscow. In colder areas, it suffers greatly from frost.

Weeping willow, like other types of willows, easily propagates by cuttings.

Let's cross the bridge. On the left side of the path on curtain 23 we will examine Himalayan spruce (89) - Picea morinda link. Pine family - Pinaceae.

The homeland of spruce is the Himalayas, where it grows at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level. Long dark green needles and weeping branches give it a decorative look. However, this species can only grow in warm climates.

After inspecting the spruce, we will walk along the path to the fence and turn right. Large bushes grow along the fence biota (thuja) eastern (90) - Biota orientalis I Endl. Cypress family - Cupressaceae.

The homeland of the biota is the mountainous regions of Northern China. Biota is a highly decorative breed, widely used for landscaping in the Caucasus, Ukraine, Krasnodar Territory and Central Asia.

Continuing the excursion, we go along the fence to the third path. Going out onto the path between curtains 5 and 13, on the right side we see a small dense coniferous tree thuja giant (91) - Thuja plicata D. Don.Cypress family - Cupressaceae.

At home, in North America, thuja forms trees up to 70 meters in height with a trunk over 2 meters in diameter. A fine coniferous tree that gives valuable wood. It is widely used as a decorative breed. Essential oil for perfumery is obtained from aromatic needles.

On curtain 5 we will see two original pines.

Hedgehog pine (92) - Pinus echinata Mill. Pine family - Pinaceae.

The homeland of pine is the eastern part of North America, where it grows along the coast of the sea, in low-lying places, occasionally on the slopes of the mountains.

The hedgehog pine has a number of interesting biological features. On its trunk and twigs, a large number of small shoots are formed, growing from numerous dormant buds, due to which the branches and trunk of the tree are covered with needles sticking out in all directions like the thorns of a hedgehog, which is why the name of the pine comes from. At a young age, with a felling, the pine gives rise to growth and is renewed from the stump. This ability is possessed by a very small number of other pines and conifers in general. The wood is relatively durable and can be used in construction.

Dense pine (93) - Pinus densiflora Sieb.Pine family - Pinaceae.

At home, in Japan, pine is widely cultivated for landscaping purposes. The original spreading crown and light-colored trunks give the surrounding area a specific landscape. Japanese artists often depict this pine tree in their canvases.

We will reach the intersection of the paths, on the left side, on curtain 13 we will examine jasmine primrose (94) - Jasminum primulinum Hemsl. Olive family - Oleaceae.

An evergreen shrub with trifoliate leaves, yellow flowers and long, arched, drooping branches, native to western China. The flowering of primrose jasmine begins in early spring and ends in summer. Unpretentious, easily propagated by cuttings. It is widely used in landscaping on the Black Sea coast.

Homeland - China and Japan. Cantonese meadowsweet, like other meadowsweet, is an ornamental plant. In May, during flowering, the whole bush is covered with white flowers. Flowering sprigs of meadowsweet are used for bouquets: they give them an elegant look.

Opposite the meadowsweet, on curtain 7, grows sequoia evergreen (96) - Sequoia sempervirens Endl.Taxodia family - Taxodiaceae.

The area of ​​natural distribution of sequoias is the Pacific coast of North America (California, Oregon). It is one of the fastest growing and most durable breeds. At the age of 30-40, its trunks are suitable for sawing, at 60 years, a hectare of plantings gives about 1.5 thousand cubic meters of wood.

At the age limit in their homeland, more than 3000 years, the best specimens reach more than 100 meters in height with a trunk diameter of 8-9 meters.

In the conditions of the Black Sea coast at 40 years old, the best trees have a height of 30 meters and a trunk diameter of about 90 centimeters. Sequoia wood has a beautiful reddish color, light, strong, resistant to decay, and is widely used in carriage building, the manufacture of railway sleepers, tanks, barrels, etc.

In recent years, the areas under the sequoia in the Caucasus have been expanding; experimental work is being carried out to promote it to mountainous regions. For its advancement to the north, hybrids of the academician's selection are important A. S. Yablokova obtained as a result of crossing sequoia with marsh cypress, cryptomeria and other conifers.

To the right of the sequoia, on the same curtain, there is a large specimen tulip tree (97) - Liriodendron tulipifera L.Family magnoliaceae - Magnoliaceae.

The tulip tree comes from North America. It got its name for the beautiful flowers that resemble tulips. It is also called the "lyre" tree because of the shape of its leaves, similar to this musical instrument.

The tulip tree is not only a beautiful park and forest plant. It is a valuable fast growing woody forest species. It provides a valuable, lightweight, strong and soft wood from which plywood, furniture, musical instruments, etc. are made.

In the conditions of the Black Sea coast, the tulip tree in 30 years reaches 20 meters in height and about 40 centimeters in diameter. It grows well in the mountainous zone of the Caucasus.

Until recently, the widespread cultivation of this breed was hampered by poor seed germination. Sochi NILOS has developed measures aimed at improving the quality of tree seeds. The tulip tree is recommended by the station as a valuable forest species in the mountain forests of the coast.

On the opposite side of the path, on curtain 13, we will examine the thickets pseudo-Japanese (93) - Pseudosasa japonica Mak. Family of cereals - Graminea.

Pseudosase, like leaf grasses, belongs to arboreal cereals. These medium and small reed bamboos, up to 2-5 meters in height, form dense thickets that are difficult to pass, and sometimes undergrowth in sparse forests (Southern Sakhalin). They grow relatively quickly, multiply by segments of rhizomes and, in rare cases, by seeds. Pseudosases, like many other bamboos, have powerful rhizomes that grow in the surrounding area, especially on fertile soil, and prevent erosion.

Crossing the oncoming path, we move further between curtains 11 and 16 and, a little before reaching the new intersection of the paths, on the right side we turn our attention to a beautiful coniferous tree. it yew-leaved false beetle (99) - Pseudotsuga taxifolia Britt.Pine family - Pinaceae.

Her homeland is the western part of North America. A large, fast-growing tree with valuable light wood, which is of great interest for the forestry of the Black Sea coast. Grows well on deep loam and sandy loam mountain soils.

False beetle is durable, frost-resistant and suffers little from snow.

In the parks of the Black Sea coast at the age of 70 it reaches 35 meters in height and 80 centimeters in diameter. In addition to its high value as a forest species, the yew-leaved beetle is also a valuable park tree. It is most decorative at a young age when planted singly or in small groups in meadows. In these cases, the false beetle forms a dark green cone, covered with branches to the very ground. Reproduces well by seeds, occasionally self-seeding.

In the high-mountainous regions of the Caucasus, the station, together with the Krasnopolyanskoye forestry, is laying the mother plantations of this valuable tree species.

Let's go through the intersection of the tracks, on the right side we see a powerful instance Himalayan cedar (100) - Cedrus deodara Loud.Pine family - Pinaceae.

At home, in the Himalayas, it grows in high mountain areas up to 3,600 meters above sea level, forming large tracts with huge trees up to 50 meters in height and trunks up to 3 meters in diameter. The Himalayan cedar has perfectly acclimatized in the mountainous regions of the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory, where at the age of 30 its individual trees reach 30 meters in height and have a trunk up to 80 centimeters in diameter.

Himalayan cedar wood is very resistant to decay. It is used in underwater structures and as a building material. Its beautiful appearance makes cedar wood valuable for furniture and interior decoration.

After examining the cedar, let's go to the fork of the path. Here, on the left side of the path, there is a group of trees. ate eastern (101) - Picea orientalis Link.Pine family - Pinaceae.

The homeland of spruce is the mountains of Western Transcaucasia, where it, together with Caucasian fir, forms vast forests at an altitude of 1200 to 2000 meters above sea level. It grows slowly, is durable, grows up to 30 meters or more, requires fertile soils. Produces a light wood with good resonance properties. Thanks to the dark needles, it stands out well in beautiful groups and individual trees. It is an excellent tree for growing in parks, forest parks and forests of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.

After examining the firs along the left branch of the path, we go out onto the alley from large-flowered magnolia (102) - Magnolia grandiflora L.Family magnoliaceae - Magnoliaceae.

This beautiful tree with large, shiny, evergreen leaves is one of the most common ornamental species in the parks of the Black Sea coast from Nebug (north of Tuapse) to Batumi.

In the forests of the southeastern states of North America, large-flowered magnolia is a wild tree. In the best conditions, the magnolia is 30 meters high and 1.5 meters in diameter. Its large dull white flowers reach over 20 centimeters in diameter and have a strong aroma. It blooms from late May to October. Large-flowered magnolia is one of the most hardy subtropical plants and can withstand temperatures up to 17 °.

Turning to the right, we go out onto the bridge, over which it has spread its branches japanese sophora (103) - Sophora japonica L. Legume family - Leguminosae.

The homeland of this deciduous tree is China. Sophora is very decorative and is widely used for landscaping streets and squares in southern cities. Weeping forms are especially decorative. They have very beautifully decorated the square near the Odessa Opera House.

Solid flexible Sophora wood is used in furniture production. A yellow dye is obtained from leaves and fruits. Decoction of fruits is a good remedy for the treatment of wounds, burns and a number of diseases.

Sophora is frost and drought resistant and grows well in the North Caucasus, Ukraine in Moldova and the Central Asian republics.

Passing the bridge, on the right side of the path, on curtain 18 we will inspect small trees palm-leaved maple (104) - Acer palmatum Thunb.Maple family - Aceraceae.

Among Japanese maples, the palm-leaved maple takes the first place in its decorative qualities. Light openwork light green foliage, which is often colored in different tones in spring and autumn, gives maple a special charm. Through the efforts of many generations of Japanese gardeners, a huge number of different garden forms of the palmate tree have been bred, differing in the height and shape of the trees, the size and shape of the leaf blade and an amazing variety of spring, summer and autumn leaf color.

Palm-leaved maple grows slowly, withstands temperatures down to -15 °; for good growth requires fertile, well-moistened, but well-drained soil and high humidity. On the coast, a tree grows 5-7 meters in height.

In the arboretum, in addition to the main species, there are garden forms of maple with dark purple and bright red leaves.

The palm-leaved maple is used in the landscaping of the resort, and its various garden forms, in addition to planting in parks and squares, are cultivated in pots and tubs. Propagated by seeds, and garden forms by grafting.

The tour of the park ends with acquaintance with the palm-leaved maple.

During the excursion, we briefly examined only a small part of the large collection of plants collected in the arboretum of the Sochi Nilos. But even it shows how diverse the flora is and how extensive is its use by man. Thousands of scientific institutions and Michurinians-practitioners are fruitfully working on the resolution of the maximum use of plants for human needs in our country.

Sochi Autumn is an outlandish cocktail of unusual flowers, bright fruits and a few spots of autumn foliage. And all this against the background of albeit slightly faded, but still monumental foliage of evergreens.

Autumn flowers can be classified into two groups. The first are those that did not manage to complete their summer flowering and more or less luxuriantly flourish under the faded autumn sky (see the previous topics from the series on the Flora and Fauna blog). For some southern plants, autumn is the only and completely natural time of flowering.

In October, waves of the finest scent pours on passers-by, and this means that they have bloomed osmanthus.


Small snow-white or yellowish flowers perched in bunches on twigs and are almost invisible in dense foliage. Their presence betrays only a divine aroma, which makes the time of osmanthus flowering one of the best seasons in the gardens and parks of Sochi.


Osmanthus is a genus of evergreen deciduous flowering plants of the Olive family, which includes about 30 species originating from tropical regions of Asia from the Caucasus to Japan. Only one species, Osmanthus americanus, has spread from the southeastern United States.


In China, osmanthus has been cultivated for several thousand years and is appreciated for its wonderful aroma, beauty and useful properties. It is a symbol of romantic love, and in Taiwan many weddings are not complete without osmanthus. According to custom, the bride must bring osmanthus and pomegranate to her husband's family, which she has grown with her own hands. Osmanthus symbolizes love and fidelity, while pomegranate symbolizes peace and fertility.


Also, this flower is a symbol of the Chinese Moon Festival, which is traditionally celebrated in September. Just at this time, osmanthus begins to bloom profusely with fragrant white or light yellow flowers. During the holiday, Chinese families gather in the garden, eat "mooncakes," to which osmanthus flowers are added for flavor, and tell the children stories about the flower and the magical moon dwellers.


Osmanthus flowers are also added to tea. Chinese tea Gui hua cha is an infusion of fragrant osmanthus petals, has a delicate and slightly sweet taste with the aroma of apricot and peach.


Also, dried osmanthus flowers are added as a flavoring to jams, soups and even make liqueurs from them. In medicine, a decoction of osmanthus flowers is used to treat cough, compresses from a decoction of the bark are used to treat severe suppurations - boils. In cosmetics, osmanthus oil is used as a nourishing agent for the skin and hair. And the smell of fragrant osmanthus is well known to lovers of expensive perfume: it is often included in perfumes, and in the role of the main note in the aroma.


Fragrant osmanthus first came to Europe in the middle of the 19th century. It was brought there by a French Jesuit missionary, keen on botanist Jean Marie Delaway (1834 - 1895).
During his stay in China, J-M. Delaway described more than 4,000 plant species, of which 1,500 were previously unknown. Some of these plants now bear his name, including one of the osmanthus species.

With short interruptions from February to the present day, it blooms in Sochi hebe which was mentioned in this.

In Sochi, yucca blooms twice a year - in early summer and autumn.

Ginkgo

Translated from Japanese, ginkgo means "silver apricot" or "silver fruit".


The first mentions of this plant date back to the 11th century. Charles Darwin called ginkgo "a living fossil" because it is one of the oldest woody plants that appeared on earth about 280 million years ago and is still preserved.


According to experts, ginkgo is a relic of Japanese-Chinese origin. In Japan and China, it has long been planted around sacred temples. One of the legends says that in very ancient times in the north of China, ginkgo seeds were taken as a tribute. And in Japan, to this day, ginkgo is grown to obtain seed(fruit), by the way, edible.


European scientists first discovered a living tree in 1690 (previously they only encountered plant prints on stones).


In Europe itself, these trees first appeared in the botanical garden of Holland. In 1780, the Parisian amateur botanist Petigny bought a pot of five small trees from an English gardener at 40 ECU each. These trees became the progenitors of almost all ginkgoes now growing in France.


From a botanical point of view, ginkgo has related roots to our conifers. Look at the leaf, it does not have the usual veins, but consists, as it were, of needles glued together in the form of a fan.


In culture, since 1727. It is successfully cultivated in the temperate zone, where the climate is quite mild.


In addition to its beauty, ginkgo also has unique medicinal properties, for which it is appreciated by doctors and pharmacists around the world. Moreover, ginkgo has no side effects.

Blooms in Sochi without interruption since spring lantana, which was described.

Japanese medlar


Eriobotria japonica, or lokva, and the people of Sochi simply call it medlar, also contributes to the autumn-winter flowering of the parks of Sochi with its dull white flowers in lumpy-cone-shaped "candles". The flowers of Eriobotria, like many other plants from the Rosaceae family, have a distinct smell of almonds.


Medlar subtropical or Japanese (Eriobotrya japonica) is an evergreen tree 5-8 m high. The homeland of Eriobotria is China, North India, but since it has long been cultivated in Japan and came to Europe from there, it received the species name "Japanese". It should not be confused with the German medlar.


These are two different species, moreover, from different genera, albeit from the same family Rosaceae (Rosaceae). The genus unites about 30 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees, common in South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas, where it grows, as a rule, on mountain slopes. In the 19th century, the plant was brought to Europe and spread on the Black Sea coast. In Sochi, fruits ripen in May.


The leaves are used as an expectorant for cante, whooping cough, bronchitis, hemoptysis, as well as for fever, nausea, stomach pain, and urinary disorders. Flowers are used for acute coryza and as an expectorant; fruits - for coughing and nausea.

On the streets of Sochi, it continues to delight with its flowering abutilone(see this one about "china lanterns").

Candy tree


In the parks and on the streets of Sochi, you can enjoy sweets from a tree in autumn. In tree species, the fruits are usually edible as we know, and a completely different matter with the candy tree, or as it is also called fasting sweet... The fruits of the fasting are inedible. These are small capsules that contain very small black seeds. Perhaps even a hungry bird will not flatter them. The candy tree has an edible stalk. It contains sugary substances that protrude on the surface.


The stalk has a raisin taste and a peculiar smell of rum. The overgrown and thickened stalk is covered with a dense film, and sugary substances appear only after a cold snap. A dry stalk contains up to 35% sugar, of which 25% sucrose and 10% fructose. It also contains some other healing substances: it is used as a remedy for asthma.


These trees grow long enough for 30-40 years, and therefore, from each such tree in China, up to 40 kilograms of dry and sweet stalks are harvested.
In China, the stalk is consumed fresh and dried. Dry and chopped are added to the dough for cookies, biscuits and other culinary products. A weak alcoholic drink is made, similar to beer, but with a rum aroma.


Govenia is a large deciduous tree, quite common in alley plantings on Sochi streets (for example, Vorovskogo and Makarenko).

On the territory of the sanatorium. Ordzhonikidze these days continues to bloom and even bear fruit cycas.


Read about the cycad.

Pyracantha


Pyracantha is a genus of thorny evergreen shrubs from the Rosaceae family. The species of the genus are common in Southeast Asia, and only one species is found in the south of Europe.
Pyracants are very popular as an ornamental crop in mild climates. The most cold-resistant varieties, originating from narrow-leaved pyracantha and scarlet pyracantha, withstand winters with minimum temperatures not lower than -20 ° C.


Can be grown in single bushes, in groups or as hedges. Pyracantha hedges are not only smart, but they also reliably protect the garden thanks to the sharp thorns. Fences do not lose their decorative effect in winter, because they are covered with leaves and bright fruits all winter.

Name: from the Greek "pyr" - fire and "akanthos" - thorn; thorny shrub with fiery red fruits.
Pyracantha fruits are inedible due to their bitter taste, but not poisonous.
Pyracantha is a good honey plant.


It is prized for its abundant flowering and equally abundant and colorful fruiting.

The fertility of another kind of shrubs this time is reflected already in its name - beautifull.


Krasivoplodnik is a deciduous shrub of the Verbenaceae family. The homeland of this plant is China. The height of the shrubs varies from 1.5 to 3.5 meters. More than 140 plant species are known in the genus, which naturally inhabit the tropical and subtropical regions of East Asia, Australia, North and Central America.


Name Callicarpa, derived from the Greek words kallos (beauty) and karpos (fruit).
The fruits of the beautiful fruit, small lilac peas, really look beautiful and unexpected, since the lilac color is quite rare among the fruits of our planet.
The berries last all winter.


But not only the fruits of the beautiful fruit are beautiful. In spring it dresses with light green foliage, in summer its branches are covered with numerous flowers.


The flowers are small, tubular, collected in panicles in the leaf axils.


Leaves turn yellow or pink in autumn. Fruits are rounded berries. The berries are colored from purple to lilac with a metallic sheen, ripen in autumn.


These berries feed on several species of birds, as well as squirrels.


Kallikarpa can be seen, for example, in the Frunze sanatorium.

In October, the air of Sochi parks is saturated with the scent of flowers prickly sucker.


Read about sucker.

Legcarp


Dacridium legcarp (Latin Dacrycarpus dacrydioides; Maori name - Kahikatea (Maori kahikatea) - a species from the genus Dacrycarpus of the Podocarpaceae family. Endemic to New Zealand.
It is widely distributed throughout New Zealand, found on the North and South Islands, as well as on Stewart Island. Grows in low-lying forests. Among the nodocarpets, there are real trees, the height of which reaches almost 50 meters. In Sochi, the large-leaved legcarpe (Podocarpus macrophyllus) is grown, which grows up to 10 meters in nature.

The leaves of this podocarpus are unlike the leaves of the conifers we are used to: these are not needles, but belt-like 7-centimeter leaves.


It blooms in spring.


The fruits ripen in autumn. They are located on a thick red-pink "stalk". Red juicy "legs" are edible (blue-green fruits are not eaten!).

Continues to bloom brugmansia in the courtyards of residential buildings, as well as in parks (at the entrance to the Arboretum, on the territory of GOST Lazurnaya)


Read about brugmansia.

Autumn is the time for flowering cedars.


Cedar(lat. Cedrus) is an oligotypic genus of trees of the Pine family.
In nature, the range of the genus covers the southern and eastern mountainous regions of the Mediterranean and the western regions of the Himalayas. On the Black Sea coast, cedars have completely naturalized and are self-seeding.


Due to their decorativeness and rapid growth, cedars are valuable for parks both in groups and singly. Blue and silver shapes are especially valuable.

Unlike the seeds of the so-called cedar pines, the seeds of real cedars are inedible.

Himalayan cedar(lat. Cedrus deodara), or deodar - a coniferous tree, one of the species of the genus Cedar, a fast growing breed that grows in eastern Asia, in the northwest of the Himalayas in the mountains of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. It rises in the mountains up to 3600 m, forms forests with spruce, pine, fir.
Himalayan cedar is a tree reaching a height of 50 m or more, with a trunk diameter of up to 3 m.

Differs in a wide-conical crown, characteristic of adult plant specimens. The branches are horizontal.
The needles are soft, thin, light gray-green with a bluish tinge, collected in bunches, 30-40 needles in each. They are 3-4-sided, up to 5 centimeters long. Needle lives from three to six years.


The cone ripens within 1.5 years. After ripening, it crumbles in the second or third year. On the branches the bumps sit on top and face up(pine cones grow in all directions).


Himalayan cedar tolerates shading better than other types of cedar. Lives up to 1000 years, but under ideal conditions trees can reach the age of 3000 years.

In Sochi, this type of cedar is the most widespread, it can be found in parks and on the streets of the city, which, unfortunately, cannot be said about the other two cedars - Lebanese and Atlas - these trees are rare on the Sochi coast.

It is for Lebanese cedar King Solomon equipped expeditions in order to build his temple from his precious and aromatic wood. Some researchers claim that the scent of cedar helps to relieve "feelings of anxiety" and "relieves irritation."


It grows in Asia Minor, on the Taurus ridge, forming mixed forests with Cilician fir and juniper at an altitude of 1300-2000 m. And although at these heights the snow sometimes lasts up to five months, in winter there are significant frosts (down to -30 ° C), and in summer there are severe droughts, the cedar feels good.
Lebanese cedar is one of the first introduced in Western Europe, to which, again, it owes its historical reputation. Its oldest plantings date from the second half of the 17th century, and some of the trees from this era have survived in Italy and southern France. In Russia, it has been known in culture since 1826, when it was planted in the Crimea.

Atlas cedar grows on the slopes of the Atlas in Morocco and Algeria, including in areas with very poor vegetation. In the wild, it is usually found in hard-to-reach areas at an altitude of 1300-2000m above sea level.

Resinous wood with a strong aroma. The smell is reminiscent of sandalwood, but drier.
Atlas cedar is frost-resistant (up to -20 ° C), it also tolerates drought more easily than Lebanese.

Arbutus


Large-fruited strawberry tree, or common strawberry, or common Arbutus - evergreen trees, a species of the genus Strawberry tree (Arbutus) of the Heather family (Ericaceae).


It should be borne in mind that the Russian term "strawberry tree" can refer both to the species Arbutus unedo, and to the genus Arbutus as a whole, which consists of about ten species.
In nature, the range of the species covers the Mediterranean and Western Europe, including Northwest France and Ireland. Due to its presence in the southwest of Ireland, it is also known as the Irish Strawberry Tree. It has become one of the most common ornamental plants in the United States, in particular in California.
In November, in many places in Sochi (for example, near the Sberbank stop on Gorky Street), multi-stemmed tall bushes with gloomy green foliage attract attention.


At this time of the year, one can see on them simultaneously hanging orange-red thorny balls of fruits and large clusters of whitish small water-lily flowers.


This is because a large-fruited strawberry growing wildly from Abkhazia, the Musser hill massif, to the green hollows of Ireland, takes exactly one year from flowering to fruit ripening. This evergreen flowering and fruiting plant is not only decorative, but also feels good in the humid Sochi climate.


The fruit is edible; used to make jams and liqueurs (for example, the Portuguese Medronho).

Sochi autumn is the time of flowering tea. (cm. ).

Yew berry


Extremely rare in its natural state, the yew is quite common in landscaping, and is rarely found in any park, although it grows slowly. It is difficult to say what is the attraction of this most ancient ornamental plant in Europe. Is it in its solemnly gloomy monumentality? Enviable longevity? - thousand-year-old yew trees are not uncommon, and in the famous yew-boxwood grove, in Khost, there are also older trees.

But, be that as it may, the history of yew cultivation is no younger than the oldest trees in Europe and the Caucasus.
Under cultural conditions, it is usually a widely spreading, bushy tree, although there are also narrow-crown, rather tall trees. The most widespread in Sochi garden form of yew is the wide-columnar form "Equal-topped", in the vicinity of the city it reaches 6m in height and 4m in diameter of the crown in 100 years. The dark green branches of the yew are covered with flowers in the spring and red "berries" in the fall.


Regarding the specific epithet “berry”, one should not forget that the yew is a so-called gymnosperm plant and what is perceived by many as berries, in fact, seeds immersed in the pulp of a juicy red aryllus plant.


Attractive to both humans and birds, arillus is edible, while all other parts of the plant, especially wood, contain a deadly poison. Nevertheless, yew wood has always been highly valued - take, for example, its Russian names: nogo-wood, mahogany, Caucasian mahogany. True, its toxicity had to be reckoned with, and in ancient Rome there was even a law that ordered cabinetmakers to use yew wood that had lain for at least seven years. Now yew is a plant from the Red Book, and there can be no talk of any beds and carved panels made of yew.

And yet, the main decoration of the Sochi autumn is, albeit a few, trees and shrubs in the variegation of autumn foliage. Among them reigns supreme liquidambar, or amber wood.

His attitude to amber, this rare and mysterious substance, the dream of perfumers of all countries and peoples, is rather arbitrary - by tapping the bark of eastern liquidambar, they extract a fragrant resin called "vegetable ambergris". But if this slender tree was not lucky with ambergris, then it was awarded with the colors of the autumn palette in abundance.


It is not known if there is any other tree that is so lavishly painted in the fall. On autumn liquidambars, you can simultaneously see all green tones, from gloomy malachite to the color of young lettuce; the yellow color varies from dry straw to the yolk of a home-made egg; the delicate creamy pink shade of some leaves gradually turns into burgundy red others; even blackish-purple leaves are visible on well-lit parts of the crown. And the same motley carpet of fallen leaves under the tree.


But such impressive variegation is not inherent in all trees. Some of them, with characteristic pterygoid outgrowths on the bark of the branches, are typical resinous liqueurs from the forests of North America, and their autumn color is limited to a yellowish-creamy range.


But most plants have a brighter and more variegated color of noticeably larger leaves - these are natural transitional forms between resinous and large-leaved liquidambars.


The latter species is native to Mexico and Guatemala.
Ignorant people often confuse this representative of the ancient Hamamelid family with maples: the leaves of liquidambar really look like maple leaves.


But all the pretense of such a relationship is dispelled when you see the infructescence - spiky balls hanging on thin stalks, a favorite material of local craftsmen for funny souvenir figurines.


In the spring, flowers appear on the liquidambre along with new insignia.

Maple trees, this traditional supplier of golden autumn leaves, also contributes to the fall colors of Sochi's parks.


Basically, these are numerous varieties of maple, a native of distant Japan and China.


Their autumn leaves are predominantly red in color, but some of these short, spreading trees are so vibrant that they appear to be lush beds of autumn flowers.


This is reflected in their names of Japanese origin, for example, one of the varieties of maple is called "Autumn Fire".

Finishing the autumn topic, I suggest looking out the window.


Girlfriend Autumn in the window
The leaves rustle
She has me without asking
He will treat you with sorrow.


The leaves are showered with yellow,
And it whips in the breeze,
And taking my arm
He will lead you through the park.


Show all the outfits
Will remind you of winter
Whisper quietly in your ear -
There is joy in me too.


Look at the leaves!
Look what kind of carpet -


Every season
There is a magic choir.


At Summer, the chirping and trilling of a nightingale,
And winter has blizzards and white snows,
Spring sings like a drop of a babbling brook
And Autumn will decorate the trees and fields.


Girlfriend Autumn in the window
The leaves rustle
She's got me to dance
Will invite you with foliage ...


poem by V. Rudenko. alt =

In summer, Sochi buzzes like a bee hive: tens of thousands of vacationers want their portion of the sun, sea and entertainment. In the resort crowd, you can forget about the main treasure of the Caucasus - its nature. We recommend leaving the busy beach for a day and visiting the Sochi Arboretum, fragrant and surprising with exotic plants. Especially this shady park will appeal to those who come to Sochi with children, because it is calm and very cozy here.

The arboretum park in Sochi appeared in 1892, and was planned not by a landscape architect, but by art critic and playwright Sergei Khudekov. Thanks to his work, the deserted slope of Bald Mountain was transformed: a beautifully planned park appeared here, in which hundreds of plant species grew. Today, the park's collection includes more than 1,800 species of trees, shrubs and flowers, and the arboretum is recognized as a monument of landscape art.

The best way to walk in the garden and not tire the children uphill is to get in the cable car to the top of the arboretum and then go down, inspecting all its beauty. Plants are grouped geographically, so you'll travel from North America to China, Australia and New Zealand to the Mediterranean, and Japan to the Caucasus. The flora of different parts of the Earth may seem truly amazing to children. For example, how often do you get a chance to walk among giant trees? In the arboretum of Sochi, there is such an opportunity.

Slender sequoias grow near the upper station of the cable car. Even if you come to Sochi in winter, these giants will delight you with green leaves. True, it is not easy to make out the crown of a sequoia - trees as high as a 25-storey building lift leaves to the very sky.

On the contrary, the stone rose is a stunted plant that sticks to the ground. What is commonly mistaken for a stone rose flower is actually a rosette of leaves. This plant has adapted to survival in the mountains, so it is often used in the design of alpine slides. There are many flowering plants in the arboretum. In the Japanese garden you will see delicate magnolias and sakura trees, in the Himalayas exposition you will see a bright lagerstremia, and in the rose garden you will enjoy the scent of many varieties of roses.

If you visit the Sochi arboretum in winter, you should look for a riot of colors in the greenhouse. There are sissy plants hiding here, for which the warm Sochi winters seem to be fierce cold. All year round, orchids, feces and hibiscus bloom in the greenhouse, cacti bristle with thorns and exotic fruits ripen. Some of the fruits ripening here will be familiar to the child - but has he ever seen how bananas or oranges grow? Take photos of other exotic plants in the Sochi Arboretum to learn how to distinguish lychee from rambutan.

But conifers are not afraid of either cold weather or heat. On a warm summer day, the arboretum has a delightful aroma of pine trees - here you will see 80 species of this plant. They are accompanied by cedars, cypresses, thuja, fir, yew. It is believed to be especially useful to take a walk in juniper thickets: its phytoncides purify the air from pathogens.

The atmosphere in the park created by Khudekov is so peaceful that even animals feel calm there. Swans swim and nutria live in the ponds, and in some enclosures you can see parrots, ostriches and peacocks. In addition, there is a small aquarium and a butterfly garden in the arboretum.

Note that the arboretum has a fruit nursery where plants for sale are grown. The Sochi Arboretum website contains information about trees and shrubs that can be purchased.

DENDRARIUM IN SOCHI

The Sochi Arboretum is undoubtedly the green treasure of the southern part of Russia. It contains more than one and a half thousand species, varieties and forms of various exotic woody flora, the rarest specimens of which have been brought here from all over the world. The Arboretum in Sochi is open to the public throughout the year; it is a must-see place for tourists. In addition to the plants of the subtropical zone, where Sochi is located, the Arboretum Park contains many rare species of birds and other representatives of the animal world. The cable car at its top offers a stunning panorama of the sea and mountains.

FROM THE HISTORY OF DENDRARIUM PARK IN SOCHI

The arboretum in Sochi was opened by Sergei Nikolaevich Khudekov in 1892. It was he and the gardener Langau K.A. on one of the slopes of Lysaya Gora on an area of ​​15 hectares, he planted almost 400 specimens of various plants, and also planned the park territory in the style of the Franco-Italian terrace - a popular landscape direction of that time. Since then, new specimens of flora have been regularly planted in the arboretum in Sochi. Now the collection includes Japanese viburnum, palm-shaped maple, Caucasian fir, Algerian cork oak, Australian eucalyptus, ruelia, tibukhina, Mexican agave, Himalayan cedar, sequoias (grove), and other trees and shrubs. Cast iron sculptures and vases, specially ordered in France, were installed between the plants, and architectural structures were erected. By 1917, the number of planted units exceeded 550.

In the photo: Arboretum in Sochi - the central fountain "Cupids"

Photo: Arboretum in Sochi - stairs leading to the dacha "Nadezhda"

In 1922, the arboretum in Sochi was transferred to the ownership of the state, and in 1944 - to the future Sochi Research Institute. At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, like other botanical gardens in the country, the arboretum in Sochi is actively developing. During these years, cascades of ponds were erected on its territory, a rose garden was laid out, "geographical" corners with natural plant species characteristic of each zone were created. In each of them, plants are neatly and compactly placed, the birthplace of which is certain regions of the globe: Japan, Australia, China, the Mediterranean, America and others.
In June 1977, the city's Kurortny Avenue was connected to the highest part of the park using a cable car. From there, a panorama of not only the park as a whole opens, but the entire city.
Since 2012, the Sochi Arboretum as a separate subdivision has been included in the national park. In the same year, a life-size model of a tiled dolmen was unveiled in its upper part - one of the oldest structures made of slabs. It still remains a mystery how our ancestors managed to erect such structures, because the weight of the slabs of individual dolmens is tens of tons.

In the photo: Blooming eucalyptus in the Arboretum in Sochi.

DENDRARIUM IN SOCHI TODAY

Today the Arboretum Park in Sochi occupies 49 hectares. More than 1600 various plant species are planted and grow in it, for example, 76 species of pines - there are almost 1890 of them, oaks - about eighty species, a large number of palms - 24 species. Here you can see cypresses and many rare subtropical plants. Together with the plants of the nursery and the greenhouse, the total number of species, forms and varieties of trees and shrubs in the Arboretum Park is approximately 2.5 thousand.
The arboretum in Sochi is divided by Kurortny Prospekt into two parts - upper and lower, they are connected by an underground passage. In the upper part of the park, in addition to the flora, there are aviaries where ostriches live. Walking along the alleys, you can watch peacocks.

Photo: Ponds at the bottom of the arboretum in Sochi.

In its lower part, there are ponds for the habitation of waterfowl and animals. Pelicans, swans and nutria swim here, and families of ducks walk along the trails. Admiring the water surface of the water, you can look into a two-meter aquarium with marine life, it is located nearby.

We advise you to read : GARDENS AND PARKS OF CRIMEA Nikita Botanical Garden

At the time of flowering, the new rose garden is of great interest to visitors to the Arboretum Park in Sochi. It was laid out a few years ago and is part of the Garden of Continuous Blossom that has been created. At the end of May, the rose garden presents a magnificent spectacle of blooming roses. The most promising varieties and species suitable for cultivation on the Black Sea coast and in the Krasnodar Territory have been planted on its territory. These are fashionable old garden roses - park, hybrid tea, ground cover, and modern - French Crimson Meyandecor, Japanese Ferdi, during flowering, almost completely hiding the leaves with buds, standard and wild roses, and their other types and varieties.

Photo: Gazebo by the pond in the lower part of the Sochi arboretum.

Founded in the 19th century in Sochi, the arboretum has the status of a monument of garden and park art. In addition to plants, it is famous for its layout, structures, sculptures. Among them is the rotunda, which is at the same time the central entrance to the arboretum, and the snow-white dacha "Nadezhda" - the most beautiful building on the coast of the late 19th century. The family of the founder of the Sochi arboretum once lived here, the building got its name in honor of his wife.

Photo: Mauritanian pavilion in the Arboretum park in Sochi.

A cascade of stairs, decorated with vases and sculptures and framed with subtropical plants, connects the central entrance at the foot of Lysaya Gora and the viewing platform in its upper part. Gazebos located in different parts (Moorish, Love, Near the pond, Pueraria), sculptures, sculptural ensembles (Dancer, Morning), pools (Bather, Sink), fountains (Cupid, Boy with a fish, Fairy tale), grotto - all this decorates the Arboretum park in Sochi immerses you in the atmosphere of bygone days. The national flavor of the Chinese Courtyard and the Japanese Garden add new impressions to the visit.

Like any botanical garden, and the arboretum is a botanical garden of woody plants, the Sochi arboretum conducts research, selection and educational work, helps to preserve the flora of the earth. Every year, more than a thousand seeds of exotic and rare plants are sent from the park to various world organizations, in exchange they also receive interesting samples. A lot of planting material was donated by the arboretum for landscaping the resort town of Sochi.
The beauty and attractiveness of the wildlife of the Arboretum Park in Sochi has not been spared by modern cinematography. An episode of one of the films was filmed here back in 1979, Oleg Dal played the main role in it.

In the photo: Arboretum in Sochi in February, mimosa flowering.

INFORMATION FOR REST

How to get to the Arboretum in Sochi
The Arboretum in Sochi invites vacationers, lovers and connoisseurs of nature for a walk-excursion along the flowering alleys of the park. It is not difficult to get to it, since it is located in the central part of Sochi, namely on Kurortny Prospekt street:
You can walk from the Sochi Marine Station to the Arboretum Park.
From the railway station, tourists can get to the arboretum by shuttle buses 95,94,90,83,43,23,19,7,3,1 to the stop complex "Circus".
From other parts of the city, take the line following along Kurortny Prospekt to the Dendropark stop.

Opening hours of the Arboretum in Sochi
The Arboretum Park is open daily from 8 am to 9 pm. From November to February inclusive, opening hours are reduced from 9 am to 5 pm.

Excursions and ticket prices to the Arboretum Park in Sochi
The entrance to the Arboretum is paid - 250 rubles, for children from 7 to 14 years old - 120 rubles. The ticket is valid for both parts of the park, therefore it must be kept during the visit. According to documents for the privileged category of citizens, admission is free. For a permanent visit, you can purchase a monthly subscription. Its price is 2.5 thousand rubles.
In the Sochi Arboretum, excursions are held, thanks to which vacationers can get detailed information, for example, about such unique plants as tulip, fig, strawberry trees, get acquainted with the prospects for the development of the park and elements of park construction. Some of the excursions take place by cable car. Depending on this, the price of an excursion service for one person varies from 100 to 450 rubles.