Thymus baicalensis (Lamiaceae) morphological transformation under different environmental conditions

Thymus baicalensis shoot formation and life-form diversity have been studied under the different environmental conditions of Ol'khon Island. It has been determined that a species life form represents a vegetative immovable aerial-axial dwarf shrub under mountain-steppe-hilltop conditions, while on the hill slope it is a vegetative immovable dwarf shrub of an elfin-wood-formation type; it tends to be cushionshaped in sandy steppes. The basis of a mature specimen can be formed by a monopodial and sympodial main axis increasing in increments. Changes in skeletal axis structures, length of time for their increase in increments, species-specific rooting characteristics, and spatial configuration can be the mechanisms of morphological adaptation to different ecological and coenotic conditions.