GROWTH AND FLOWERING OF TWO LEUZEA SPECIES

The experiment was carried out in 2004-2006 at the Experimental Farm of the Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants Cultivation, University of Agriculture in Lublin. The study was aimed at the evaluation of growth and development of two leuzea species: Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L. cultivated under Polish climatic conditions. Observations were made upon annual, biennial, triennial, and quadrennial plants. The leuzea plantation was set from seedlings produced in a greenhouse. Leuzea carthamoides DC plants were higher and produced more leaves. Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L. plants formed infl orescence stems and bloomed in the second year of cultivation. Infl orescence stems in Leuzea carthamoides DC are single, while those in Leuzea centauroides L. are branched. Leuzea carthamoides DC plants form larger heads compared to Leuzea centauroides L.


INTRODUCTION
Leuzea carthamoides DC is a perennial from the Asteraceae family.In its wild form, it can be found in Siberia, middle Asia and northern Mongolia.It fi nds the best conditions for growing in mountains at the height above 1500 meters.For many years, it has been cultivated near Moscow, Nowosybirsk, in Romania, Slovakia, and even Poland (N i e d w o r o k and J a n k o w s k a , 1997).It is characterized by a straight stem, empty inside.It forms abundant clusters consisting of many stems 50-180 cm high (C i c i n , 1962; S t r z e l e c k a and K o w a l s k i , 2000).The species blooms at the beginning of its second vegetation cycle in July and August in natural habitat (C i c i n , 1962; Č i k o v and Ł a p t i e v , 1987; G r o c h o w s k i , 1990; S t r z e l e c k a and K o w a l s k i , 2000).Flowers are violet or violet-purple (C i c i n , 1962; Č i k o v and Ł a p t i e v , 1987).Rhizomes with numerous roots are the underground organ which is pharmaceutical raw material (S t r z e l e c k a and K o w a l s k i , 2000).The rhizomes have an immunostimulating, anti-depressive, and anti-tumor action.Its fruit -achene -is a source of biologically active substances, namely ecdysteroids and sterols (G e s z p r y c h and W ę g l a r z , 2002).
Leuzea centauroides L. is a perennial of up to 100 cm in height and with purple fl owers (T u t i n et al. 1976).There is no data on that species in available literature references.
The present paper is aimed at the evaluation of growth and fl owering of two leuzea species: Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L. cultivated under Polish climate conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiments were carried out in 2004-2006 at the Experimental Farm of the Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants Cultivation, University of Agriculture in Lublin.The studies were conducted using two leuzea species: Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L.
Seeds originated from the Botanical Garden of Maria Skłodowska-Curie University in Lublin.They were sown individually into pots fi lled with peat substrate.The fi rst emergence was observed after 5 days.The seedlings were planted in a plot (40 × 40 cm spacing) in mid-May.The experiment was performed in 4 replications, with 30 plants in each.The plot area was 4.8 m 2 .Weed control and soil opening were made manually.
The study consisted of two experiments: Experiment 1. Annual plants were observed.Weekly observations of plant height (length of leaf rosette) and number of leaves were made during vegetation period.
Experiment 2. That part related to biennial, triennial, and quaternal plants.Leuzea carthamoides DC began its vegetation two or three weeks before Leuzea centauroides L. (Tab.1).The height of infl orescence shoot was assessed at full bloom stage.In the generative stage, the total number of anthodium per plant and the diameter of blooming anthodium were determined.In Leuzea centauroides L., the mean number of heads per single shoot was also evaluated.The obtained results were statistically processed by means of variance analysis for k-fold cross classifi cation.

RESULTS
The studied leuzea species differed from each other with respect to their height (Fig. 1).A week after planting (24 May), the mean height of Leuzea centau- On the basis of fi eld observations it was also found that Leuzea centauroides L. formed fewer leaves in the fi rst vegetation year (Fig. 2).The mean number of leaves after seedling planting was 4.5 per plant, which was similar to that in Leuzea carthamoides DC (4.9 per plant).In autumn, a much larger number of leaves was recorded in Leuzea carthamoides DC than Leuzea centauroides L. (25.4 and 16.3 per plant, respectively).
Leuzea plants differed with respect to the infl orescence stem height (Tab.2).In Leuzea carthamoides DC, the average height of infl orescence stem was 127.0 cm, which was signifi cantly higher than in Leuzea centauroides L. (99.8 cm).The studies revealed that Leuzea carthamoides DC formed a signifi cantly larger anthodium with the mean diameter of 5.8 cm.The diameter of Leuzea centauroides L. anthodium was 4.5 cm (Tab.2).
Plants of Leuzea carthamoides DC produce single fl ower stems ended with a head (anthodium).Observations indicated that the number of fl ower heads per single stem could be 2.5 for Leuzea centauroides L., on average (Tab.2).

DISCUSSION
Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L. are species that are little known in domestic and foreign literature.There is little information on their growth and development, as well as their requirements.
In the present experiments, the fi rst emergence was observed after 5 days.C i c i n (1962) found that these plants germinated after 4-9 days under laboratory conditions at 20-30°C, and after 9-20 days on the fi eld

CONCLUSIONS
1.In the fi rst year of vegetation, Leuzea carthamoides DC plants are higher and form more leaves.
2. Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L. plants produce infl orescence stems and bloom in the second year of cultivation. 3 (S a r w a , 1992; N i e d w o r o k and J a n k o w s k a , 1997).According to G r o c h o w s k i (1990), Leuzea carthamoides DC plants begin vegetation in March.In our study, only biennial plants of Leuzea carthamoides DC began vegetation in March (31 March), triennial and quadrennial ones -in April.Leuzea centauroides L. begins vegetation by about 2-3 weeks later.C i c i n (1962), Č i k o v and Ł a p t i e v (1987), S t r z e l e c k a and K o w a l s k i (2000), and S a r w a (2001) found that Leuzea carthamoides DC reached 50-180 cm of height.In the present study, that species grew up to 127.0 cm of height and Leuzea centauroides L. to 99.8 cm.According to G r o c h o w s k i (1990), N i ed w o r o k and J a n k o w s k a (1997) and S t r z e l e ck a and K o w a l s k i (2000), Leuzea carthamoides DC plants bloomed from the second vegetation cycle.In the present experiments, no studied plant produced infl orescence stems in the fi rst year of cultivation.
Dates of vegetation beginning for Leuzea carthamoides DC and Leuzea centauroides L.roides L. was 10.4 cm, while Leuzea carthamoides DC 13.6 cm.For the whole vegetation period, Leuzea centauroides L. plants were shorter than Leuzea carthamoides DC plants, and that tendency persisted till the end of vegetation.At the end of September, Leuzea carthamoides DC plants were taller than Leuzea centauroides L. ones by 8.8 cm, on average.