History of Science and Engineering Annotation << Back THE HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN FLORA EXPOSITION IN THE MAIN BOTANICAL GARDEN OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IN MOSCOW I.V. Pavlova The Central Asian Flora Exposition in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) is a result of 73 years long collective effort by several generations of botanists and garden workers. The Central Asia Flora Exposition is one of the oldest in the Main Botanical Garden of RAS. It was founded in late 1930's by Prof. M.V. Kultiasov. At the time he was working in the Moscow Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR on the Vorobjevy Hills. In 1946 the collection was transferred to the Flora Department of the Main Botanical Garden in Ostankino and was first opened to public in 1953. At the exhibition area of about 1.6 hectares a variety of botanical-geographical areas were established, reflecting the main types of vegetation in Central Asia. Here one could find desert plants and riparian woodlands, plants of mountain steppes and forests (deciduous, coniferous and juniper), subalpine and alpine meadows. Since the beginning of the Central Asia Flora Exposition, 1 272 Middle-Asian species went through introductory testing in Moscow. Presently, 160 Middle-Asian species of plants (37 families, 87 genera) are represented in the exposition. As part of the collection are 21 rare and endangered plant species. Most plants available in the collection were gathered in their natural habitat. Keywords: Central Asia Plant Exposition; exposition of plants from the flora of Central Asia; the history of the Main Botanical Garden of RAS; botanical-geographical principle of the exposition; rare and endangered species; biodiversity. DOI: 10.25791/intstg.12.2018.289 Contacts: E-mail: irpavlova@list.ru Pp. 50-69.