Biological features of three species of Nepeta L. genus in culture

The article is dedicated to the study in culture (the city of Ufa) of three species of aromatic plants containing essential oils from the genus Nepeta (catmint): C. cataria L., C. nuda L., C. wilsonii Duthie. The phenology, morphometry, weight of one plant during the period of mass flowering was studied, the stability of species in growing conditions was assessed. Plants of this genus in the South Urals (Bashkir Cis-Urals) are not widespread in culture due to the lack of data on the features of their biology, and therefore there was a problem of their study by introduction methods. The research work was carried out at the South-Ural Botanical Garden-Institute of the RAS UFRC in 2023 at the Aromatic Garden collection site (more than 70 taxa of aromatic plants). All species of Nepeta studied go through a full cycle of development, including the formation of seeds. They are long-growing plants with a winter rest period. The growing season of plants is more than 6 months. In terms of flowering duration, all three species belong to the group of long-blooming plants (30–35 days). Analysis of morphological features of Nepeta species showed that the values of most morphometric parameters of the studied species have a normal degree of variation (1.6 to 31.7 %). According to the success of the introduction, all the studied species of Nepeta proved to be highly resistant plants to the local climate, which makes it possible to recommend them for widespread use in creating aromatic gardens in the Bashkir Cis-Urals.