Distribution analysis of Allium L. species of the Dzhungarian Alatau Muslim S. Baitenov* & Rina Kamenetsky† *Botanical Institute of Kazakh Academy of Sciences, Kirov St. 103, Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan †Department of Ornamental Horticulture, ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel ( Received 26 October 1993, accepted 4 February 1994) In the Dzhungarian Alatau, a large Asian mountain range, 33 species from the polymorphic genus A llium L. have been found. They belong to the subgenera Rhizirideum, A llium and M elanocrommyum and are distributed from the foothills to alpine belts. T he geographical and genesis analysis of these species is given. Five species can be ascribed to the category of autochtonous of the region, among them one being endemic to the Dzhungarian Alatau. ©1995 Academic Press Limited Keywords: A llium; subgenus Rhizirideum; subgenus A llium; subgenus M elanocrommyum; Dzhungarian Alatau distribution Introduction Geographical distribution of species is an extremely important criterion in plant taxonomy. It is especially right for genus A llium L. with infrageneric grouping to a great degree based on natural spreading (Hanelt et al ., 1992). Thus, the regional geographical analysis of different A llium groups and its eco-geographical data are the principal keys for phylogenetic system of the large genus A llium. This paper is based on critical processing of herbarium material studied at the Institute of Botany of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LE) in St. Petersburg, the Institutes of Botany of the Academies of Kazakhstan (AA) and Usbekistan (TAK) and at Moscow State University (MW). The Dzhungarian Alatau is a mountain range in the semi-desertic south-eastern region of Kazakhstan. It is about 450 km in length and reaches 4500 m at its highest point. One can find descriptions of elements of Dzhungarian Alatau A llium flora in different floristic reports encompassing the former USSR region (Vvedensky, 1935; Pavlov & Polyakov, 1958; Goloskokov, 1984). They have also been found in Iran Address for correspondence: R. Kamenetsky, Department of Ornamental Horticulture, ARO, The Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel. Journal of Arid Environments (1995) 30: 397–401 0140–1963/95/040397+ 05 $12.00/0 © 1995 Academic Press Limited