The great penza expedition of Penza and Tolyatti botanists

The article describes the successful experience of organizing joint annual expeditions of Penza and Tolyatti botanists. The participation of specialists from several regions in the survey of poorly studied areas of the Penza region ensures effective collection of floral and geobotanical data, 12 field trips were conducted in 10 years (20142024), lasting from 2 to 6 days. Floral lists from individual points are combined into local flora covering an area of about 400 km2 and numbering at least 600 species. The community of specialists in the process of route planning, organization of expedition life and the survey of individual points itself constantly relies on amateurs, in particular, rural cultural and educational workers, as well as on the informal community of nature lovers that developed in 20212024 in the Penza region. As a result, 35 articles were published, and all the data were taken into account in the monograph on the flora of the Penza region and in the third edition of the Red Book of the Penza region. The expedition materials are uploaded to the iNaturalist platform, a database is maintained on the flora of the tracts visited, and the collected herbarium is stored in four herbarium repositories.