Szekessy Vilmos (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 62. (Budapest 1970)
Fekete, G. ; Szujkó-Lacza, J.: A survey of the plant life-form systems and the respective research approaches, II.
The extensive investigations concerning the root-system of grasses (SALIT, 1950, 1952), the formation of shoots and vegetative regeneration (SMELOV, 1947), or their life-cycles (RABOTNOV, 1946a, b, 1950 etc.) are inseparable from life-form studies made from ecologico-morphological points of view. In SENIANINOVA-KORCHAGINA'S (1949) opinion the presence or absence of the periderm is well usable in distinguishing ligneous life-forms. Beginning with 1950, a new era in the ecologico-morphological life-form investigations begins with SEREBRIAKOV'S (1952) work. The morphology of the vegetative organs and shoot formation are emphasized. The SEREBRIAKOV school worked in this period with the life-form morphogenesis of trees, shrubs, and dwarf-shrubs (SEREBRIAKOV, 1954a, b, 1955; SEREBRIAKOV, DOMANSKAIA & RODMAN, 1954; SEREBRIAKOV & CHERNISOVA, 1955), and then a whole series of papers appeared on the shoot formation of lawnforming grasses and their ontogenetical morphologic changes. A number of authors treated also the special life-forms of a given region. Studying deserticolous life-forms, RACHKOVSKAIA (1957) stated that there evolved on the rim of the Kopet-Dag various types of subshrubs depending on the growth intensity of the vegetative shoots and the relation between the dead and persisting generative parts. BESPALOVA (1965, etc.) discusses the same life-form in her numerous papers. BORISOVA (1960, 1961, 1962) studies the life-forms of the dicotyledonous herbaceous plants in styeps and semi-deserts. She presents in her substantial papers the description of painstaking records deriving from the ecologico-morphological observations of the ontogenesis of the several species. POPOVA (1965) investigates in styep and semi-desert areas the ontogenesis of Liliaceae, the rootstock and bulb forming rhythm as well as the structure of the shoot groups of the cryptophytons. GOLUBEV pusblishes a whole series of works (1957,1965) on the ecologico-morphology of styep and forest-styep species. He works on life-form changes appearing during the ontogenesis of the species, reporting on plastic and fixed lifeforms and states that plants having taproots are especially plastic. ZHUIKOVA (1958, etc.) describes the morphogenesis and growth of creeping-shrubs in the Arctic. Recent investigations are characterizable by also new aproaches. Thus KAZARIAN (1959) discusses the ontogenesis of the more important life-forms also physiologically, under the title "The Physiological Basis of Plant Ontogenesis". The experimental ontomorphogenetic approach, having already started in the 'thirties, expands in especially the last decade. This approach is in connection with the large-scale introduction and observation of wild species, among them many industrial plants, in botanical gardens. The experimental ecologico-morphological investigations aim at the observation of changes in the life-form of the species and the shifts in life-cycles and phenophases appearing under altered conditions. A number of authors observed especially the bulbous geophytes. NIKITIN and POLKOVICHENKO (1962) conducted experiments on ephemerisation. Evolutional ecologico-morphological approaches and the results obtained from the systematic elaboration of diverse taxonomic groups will be discussed later. According to SEREBRIAKOV (1967), the Russian-Soviet life-form investigations, initially of a zonal-regional character, take an evolutional-morphogenetical turn owing to changes in methods (stationary observations, introduction). Mainly German but also other schools abroad discuss the Wuchsforms of plants; one should understand here the totality of those rather ramifying investigations which concern the general and comparative morphology, organogenesis,
