F.N. Rusanov

Benny, Northern Denmark · Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:34 am

To Igor!

Thanks for your effort. It would be really great to know if anyone know anything about Rusanaov's material. There must be some plants left somewhere.

I have read most of the long 113 pages long article he wrote in 1959, but at the time wrote this his work were not complete, and he expected much from his further breeding. Another question is: Did any plants from his breeding-program get "exported" to other Soviet republics/Oblast's? I cant remember if he wrote any thing about that. Maybe a few of the plants or seeds were send to other East European institutes or botanical gardens? Some plants might also have been tested in agricultural institutes testing areas.

Well, anything you can find, would be of great interest.

Best wishes

Benny

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:54 am

I started working on this topic. Our Uzbek partner promised to find some contacts in the botanical gardens... It wouldn't be easy, but I will try make it easy

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:53 pm

what hybrids was he know for?

Benny, Northern Denmark · Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:40 pm

Igor,

Great Thanks.

Tim,

Outside USSR, I doubt Rusanov was ever know for any particular yucca hybrid, but maybe for his Hibiscus hybrids I don't know! What I find interesting is that he were meticulous and had the time, or took the time, to write down his observations.

In my notes I find that he made these hybrids:

Yucca filamentosa x glauca, this cross gives strong plants which is good for frost and snow. ( I can second that!)
Yucca elata x glauca No information at the time of writing!
Yucca filamentosa x elata, this cross gives plants with narrow dark green leaves, compact rosette, inflorescence up to 2 meter tall.
Yucca elata x baileyi ssp. intermedia, this cross gives plants with long narrow leaves, when the plants are mature they have a big rosette of leaves and look very much like a Dasylirion from distance.
Yucca (filamentosa x elata) x pallida
Yucca (filamentosa x elata) x pallida (different seed-donor)
Yucca flaccida x pallida
Yucca (filamentosa x baileyi ssp. intermedia) x pallida

The climate in Tashkent is harsh with low winter temperatures, sometimes with lots of snow and very hot dry summer, so if any plants has made it to today, they will be very good material for further breeding.

Benny

Henoh_Croatia · Post by **Henoh_Croatia** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 1:10 am

Benny,

thank you for sharing this information. Rusanov is for Yuccas in USSR as Saakov S. G. for palms introduction in USSR.

Best regards,

Mario

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 7:38 am

the description of Yucca elata x baileyi ssp. intermedia sounds real interesting. I have a 13 year old Y. intermedia in my garden and it has never bloomed.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:54 am

Doctor Rusanov is also well known as a creator of ×Chitalpa tashkentensis which has been bred from Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) for desert hardiness and color, and Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) for larger blooms.
By the way my uzbek business partner found a phone number of Dr. Rusanov's daughter-in-law phone number. Will try to connect her tomorrow.

Benny, Northern Denmark · Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:35 am

Igor,

"Spasibo! Vot eta storva"

What great news. Let mrs. Rusanova know, that his fathers work is still being appreciated .

With kind regards

Benny

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 9:17 am

Benny, Northern Denmark wrote: "Spasibo! Vot etO ZDorOvO" What great news. Let mrs. Rusanova know, that his fathers work is still being appreciated . With kind regards Benny

Yes, it is ZDOROVO, which means "AWESOME", that my Uzbek client has found the contact.

I called to Tashkent today.... It is a sad story. I had 20 minutes conversation with Fedor Rusanov's son. His name is Dr. Nikolai Rusanov. Yes, he is a Doctor of botany and Dr. Rusanov junior is the author of x Chitalpa tashkensis but he sold or presented the rights on this hybrid to the Monrovia. Nowadays this alderley botanist is retired and closed to be blind. He hardly walks since his knees are completely destroyed. He has no money paying for the Internet and asks me to call him if I have a time. Yes, it's very sad story....
He said also that his father's collection has been exist any more... All mature plants were stolen, or taken, to improve the landscapes around the Uzbek president or oligarchs villas and etc. SInce the time when Uzbekistan has became independant (it's happened 22 years ago) nobody has being carrying about the yucca hybrids. So the plants had been gone.... Sorry for these bad news...
At least Dr. Nikolai Rusanov now know that the Danish enthusiast Benny Jensen remembers his father and his efforts in hybridisation of yucca plants. By the way he was joking if anyone would making hybrids between Yucca and Tulip since these plants are pretty close systematically.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 10:11 am

Benny, Northern Denmark wrote: The climate in Tashkent is harsh with low winter temperatures, sometimes with lots of snow and very hot dry summer, so if any plants has made it to today, they will be very good material for further breeding.
Benny

Benny, I believe climate in Tashkent is similar to the Albuquerque/Amarillo one. The roses bloom until a New Year ive and apricot trees start blooming in February there. So it's not too bad.

Benny, Northern Denmark · Sun Sep 01, 2013 1:10 am

Dear Igor,

Thanks for the news. It is indeed a very sad story. What a lose of life's work within the field of Botany. I suspect that the same happened with all the very large flowered Hibiscus hybrids as well.

So now are the only Rusanov plants we know might come from Rusanov, is the Yuccas in the private garden of J. Bredow's in Germany. We must hope, that a few others maybe one day might be found in other botanical gardens in Eastern Europe.

I have never thought of an inter-genetic hybrid between Tulips and Yuccas. But Hosta crossed with Yucca has crossed my mind!

When you talk to Nikolai F. Rusanov, then please give him my deepest respect for his and his farther's botanical work, the x Chitalpa tashkensis looks great.

Best wishes

Benny

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:27 am

Today I got a PDF copy of Dr. F.Rusanov brochure "A Preliminary Introduction of Yucca Species in Uzbekistan" published in 1959 and had a chance to read it. There was a report that Y.filamentosa and Y.glauca had being freely pollinated by the bees in Tashkent botanical garden! It is an awesome news!

Benny, Northern Denmark · Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:08 am

I have three "suspects" for incidental pollination of Yuccas in Europe.

Bumblebee's frequently visit the Yucca flowers and Hoverflies (family Syrphidae) also visit to eat pollen. Also Ants can be visiting the inflorescence if there are a greenfly atack on the flowers. But my prime "suspect" is the "clumsy" bumblebee's.

On this photo of a flower of Yucca arkansana (intermediate form aff. flaccida with wide leaves), you can see, that there are pollen on the bumblebee visiting.

In the next photo of the same flower, you can see, that some pollen is quite close to the stigma, so it is possible, that European insects "on ocations/by accident" can pollinate the flowers of a Yucca.

The "copy" I have of Rusanov's work is made by photos of all the pages, taken by a friend's friend in Moscow. But it's better than nothing

limoncik · Post by **limoncik** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:51 am

Hi! Maybe my yucca is a hybrid Rusanov. I managed to pollinate it. Recently, the seeds are ripe and I collected them. Be able to determine what is still with me?
https://www.facebook.com/omel.sanya.s/m ... 052&type=3
and still my yucca unknown. What is this view?

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 10:10 am

Nice looking yucca, Alexandr! Where did you get it from? How old the plant is? It has some filamentosa/flaccida genes for sure. And a coloration is showing some south-western yuccas genes definitely. I bet it's not a plant imported from The Netherlands or Poland but perhaps is some clone from the Rusanov collection. That's why my first question was - where did you get it from?
Tim and Benny, what do you think, guys?

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 10:21 am

limoncik wrote: I managed to pollinate it. Recently, the seeds are ripe and I collected them.

By the way, do you have pictures of the yucca seedpods?

limoncik · Post by **limoncik** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 10:21 am

I received it from a friend in Sevastopol this spring. Age unknown, more information will ask another.
And what about the second yucca? It has not bloomed. She is 3 years old and she has been excavated in Massandra Park in Yalta.

Benny, Northern Denmark · Sun Sep 29, 2013 11:11 pm

Hello,

If your Yucca is one of Rusanov's hybrids it could be Yucca flaccida x pallida. Is the leaves serrated?

But no matter what it is, it's a very nice Yucca with a beautiful leaf color.

Best wishes

Benny

limoncik · Post by **limoncik** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:13 am

No teeth on the leaves.

Henoh_Croatia · Post by **Henoh_Croatia** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 1:28 am

igor.glukhovtsev wrote:
Benny, Northern Denmark wrote: "Spasibo! Vot etO ZDorOvO" What great news. Let mrs. Rusanova know, that his fathers work is still being appreciated . With kind regards Benny
Yes, it is ZDOROVO, which means "AWESOME", that my Uzbek client has found the contact.

I called to Tashkent today.... It is a sad story. I had 20 minutes conversation with Fedor Rusanov's son. His name is Dr. Nikolai Rusanov. Yes, he is a Doctor of botany and Dr. Rusanov junior is the author of x Chitalpa tashkensis but he sold or presented the rights on this hybrid to the Monrovia. Nowadays this alderley botanist is retired and closed to be blind. He hardly walks since his knees are completely destroyed. He has no money paying for the Internet and asks me to call him if I have a time. Yes, it's very sad story....
He said also that his father's collection has been exist any more... All mature plants were stolen, or taken, to improve the landscapes around the Uzbek president or oligarchs villas and etc. SInce the time when Uzbekistan has became independant (it's happened 22 years ago) nobody has being carrying about the yucca hybrids. So the plants had been gone.... Sorry for these bad news...
At least Dr. Nikolai Rusanov now know that the Danish enthusiast Benny Jensen remembers his father and his efforts in hybridisation of yucca plants. By the way he was joking if anyone would making hybrids between Yucca and Tulip since these plants are pretty close systematically.

Some Yucca hybrids maybe still alive in private collections . Recently one member of Facebook group 'Planet Palm' ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/planetpalm/ ) - Huang Satakentia - posted pictures from Uzbekistan garden. Ignore this unprotected Washingtonian filifera in picture which of course is dead now (zone 6 garden). On the bottom of pictures you will notice different Yucca's. Sorry for big pictures.

Benny, Northern Denmark · Tue Aug 19, 2014 1:57 am

Hello Henoh,

Thanks for sharing. If you have contact to the photograph of these photos, please give him my emailaddress.

The large bloom in the lover right corner, definitely has some genes from Yucca elata, and the other bloom are not like anything I can remember to have seen before.

Btw. did you have any luck with information about the the possible Zagreb Yucca karlsruhensis?

Have nice day

Benny

Henoh_Croatia · Post by **Henoh_Croatia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 3:02 am

Hello Benny,

Unfortunately, no answer yet

Best regards,

Mario