Morphological diversity of wild grape forms in the Utrish Nature Reserve

Research was carried out to study the biological diversity of the genus Vitis L. in the unique territory of the Utrish State Nature Reserve of the Krasnodar Region in 2020-2022. The uniqueness of this territory lies in the fact that here archaeologists discovered a settlement of the Maikop culture not far from the eastern border of the reserve Utrish, in the valley of the Durso River. In three household pits, fragments of ceramic dishes traditional for the Maikop culture, including wine jugs, were found. As a result, there was a need to conduct research and select leaf samples from several locations in places of direct domestication of wild grapes (Vitis vinifera ssp. silvestris Gmel.) in the North Caucasus using the example of the Utrish Nature Reserve for a morphometric description and establishment of the systematic position of the samples. 6 populations of wild grapes were found in the Utrish nature reserve in the Lobanova Shchel tract of the Navagirsky ridge. It was found that the shape (openness), cobwebby pubescence and color of the top of the young shoot, as well as the shape, color and pubescence of the formed leaf in the studied populations of wild grapes are among the most variable morphological characters. For example, at the interpopulation level, the cobwebby pubescence of the crown of a young shoot varies from sparse (2 points) to strong (4 points), the pubescence of the lower surface of the leaf blade varies from very rare (1 point) to strong (4 points), etc. As a result of a phenotypic assessment of the susceptibility of wild plants to diseases, it was established that during the study period, no external signs of disease were found on wild grapes of the Krasnodar Region growing on the territory of the Utrish Nature Reserve in the Lobanova Shchel tract.