Dahurian larches (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr.) in the history of Chelyabinsk

The article considers the significance and place of Dahurian larches (Larix gmelinii (Rupr) Rupr) in the cultural memory of Chelyabinsk. The research focuses on the history of the trees' appearance in the city, reconstructed via archival documents, as well as the historical context, which determines the memorial significance of the larches. The appearance of the trees in Chelyabinsk refers to the period of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. During this war, the city was converted into an evacuation center with a network of military medical facilities (infirmaries, hospitals, bathhouses, canteens); for the first time in its history, Chelyabinsk gained nationwide significance. The activities of the Chelyabinsk Internal Evacuation Commission were aimed at maintaining favorable sanitary conditions in the troops, which helped to prevent the emergence of epidemics and the importation of infectious diseases into the provinces of the European part of the country, as well as to organize the distribution of the flows of the evacuated sick and wounded soldiers. One of the war veterans brought the seeds of Dahurian larch from Manchuria that were further planted near the Red Cross infirmary under the patronage of A. N. Naryshkina. The author describes the biological characteristics of the species, the vegetation and growing conditions for the trees in the urban environment, the factors influencing the suppression of the trees, and the arguments for recognizing the larches as «memorial trees». Dahurian larches remain as a living tribute, a reminder of the immensity of the historical events. For the Chelyabinsk Region and Chelyabinsk, the surviving Dahurian larches are of special value and undoubted memorial significance: the experience of more than 100 years of growth in the center of an industrial city; the connection with the historical events of the Russian-Japanese war, indicating the involvement of the city in global events; the rarity of plant introduction use.