Exposition “Evolution of plant world”

Fossil plants are shown in this exposition: their age is estimated at millions years. The visitors can follow the evolutionary pathways of plants and other living beings. Showcases situated along the hall perimeter show successive changes of the plant world during the geological epochs of the remote past. In center of the hall there are the showcases dedicated to the origin and relationships of the major plant groups.

	Showcase “Precambrian” is dedicated to the oldest epoch of the Earth history. The life existed then in oceans only. Living beings were mostly unicellular, but few Precambrian multicellular organisms without hard skeleton are known. Stromatolits, the calcareous cones arise as result of vital activity of Cyanobacteria and other Precambrian microorganisms.
	Section of a stromatolite which is 600-1000 mio. years old.
	A reconstruction of the underwater landscape in Cambrian sea and casts of the plankton algae cells 515-590 m.a. old there are on the showcase “Cambrian”. Multicellular algae were widely distributed in this period of the Earth history; mollusks, brachiopods, arthropods (trilobites) and other invertebrates with hard skeleton appear then. All these plants and animals lived only in the ocean whereas the land was lifeless
	Impression of Sawdonia. This Devonian plant (ca. 400 mio years old) belongs to Rhyniophyta, the oldest group of land plants. Rhyniophyta had no roots and shoots but they had specialized water-conducting cells.
	Diverse land plants have been initially appeared in Devonian period (415-370 m.a. ago). Some fossil plants and reconstruction of the Devonian landscape there are in the showcase “Devonian”
	Surface of the Lepidodendron stem with scars of fallen leaves. Lepididendrons were the giant trees (up to 50 m tall) lived in warm and moist climate of Carbon (370-280 m.a. ago).  The club mosses are recent relatives of Lepidodendron
	Remnants of the Lepidodendron and other trees grown in moist forests of Carbon were transformed into coal. These fossil plants accompanied by pieces of the Donetsk Basin coal and reconstruction of the Carbon landscape there are on the showcase “Carbon”.
	Leaf of a Permian seed fern Pecopteris (280-240 m.a. old). Seed ferns were the oldest group of the seed plants that was in Permian at the peak of its flourishing.
	The climate in Permian became more arid than it was in Carbon, and the vegetation sharply changed then. Reconstruction of the Permian landscape and some fossil plants of this age are demonstrated on the showcase “Permian”
	Twig of Ferganella, a conifer tree of Jurassic age (200-135 m.a. old). Ferns and different groups of gymnosperms (conifers, cycads, bennettits, etc.) predominated in the Jurassic vegetation. As for the animals, the reptiles (including dinosaurs as it’s the most famous group) reached its fuller flower then
	Reconstruction of the Jurassic landscape and some fossil plants of this age are demonstrated on the showcase “Jurassic”
	Fossil leaf of Trochodendroides, a tree of the late Cretaceous age (ca. 80 m.a. old). This ancient flower plants is in close relationships to the fine recent tree Cercidiphyllum distributed in China and Japan
	Flower plants appeared and rapidly evolved in Cretaceous (135-65 m.a.  Ago) simultaneously with extinction of dinosaurs and with diversification of birds and mammals. Reconstruction of the early Cretaceous landscape (where the flower plants did not play any important role), as well as the fossil ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms there are on the showcase “Cretaceous”.
	Showcase “Tertiary” is dedicated the guests both with the features of vegetation of that, and with the changes of the Eurasia contours and of the climate during that age (65-64 m.a. ago). The flower plants widespread then. Some Tertiary groups of angiosperms occur recently.
	This grape leaf is 45 m.a. old from Western Kamchatka. The grape does not grow on Kamchatka now because the recent climate of this peninsula is more inclement than it was in Tertiary.
	This showcase is dedicated to diversity and evolution of fungi and lichens. Fungi (mushrooms) is a special kingdom of living beings separated from other kingdoms (such as Plants and Animals). Fungi play very important role both in nature and in human life. Lichens are fungi living in symbiosis with unicellular algae or cyanobacteria. The groups of fungi can be distinguished by the ways of their spore formation, and by features of their sexual processes. The evolutionary pathways of fungi have been reconstructed by comparison of characters within the recent fungial groups because the fossil fungi occur very rarely.
	Samples of the plants belonging to all gymnosperm groups are demonstrated on the showcase “Gymnosperms”. Both the well-known conifers, and cycads, Ginkgoales and Gentales as well as some extinct groups belong to Gymnosperms.
	Leaf of a Jurassic cycad Cycadites (ca. 150 m.a. old). This sample is unique because there is also a fossil insect (large cockroach) near the Cycadites leaf.

Exposition “Plants and men”

This exposition gives an idea of the great role of plants in human life. Both the used plants and the diverse artifacts made of plants are shown here. Showcases situated along the hall perimeter relate to different native zones because the range of the plants used by men depends on the environments where they live. In the hall center there are the showcases dedicated to dyeing plants as well as to the plant motives in culture, art and spirituality.

	Pine, birch, bilberry-bush, willow, sedge, nettle and many other well-known plants provided at all times for survival of the people on extended area of Eurasian taiga and broad-leaved forests. Diverse uses of these plants are presented on the showcase “Moderate forests”
	In this showcase there are an unique male dressing gown made of nettle by the Ainu people from Sakhalin, a traditional Japanese sedge cloak, ropes weaved of the nettle fibers, and Russian baskets made of the birch bark or of the willow twigs.
	Coffee, cacao, coconuts, mango, avocado, and other tropical fruits are not longer exotic for us. These plants there are in the showcase “Tropics”.
	This showcase also informs about other useful tropical plants such as bamboo or caoutchouc tree. The caoutchouc latex keepers’ knives  and the pieces of natural caoutchouc there are here.
	The rice, the most consumable crop on the Earth, and the cotton, the very important technical crop, are cultivated mainly in subtropics. On the showcase “Subtropics” there are these and many other plants (tee, grape, lemon tree, cork oak etc.) became usual for us.
	Men use the plants not only for their utilitarian needs: beauty and perfection of plants were reflected by diverse works of art from the earliest times. A part of the showcase “Plants in spiritual and cultural life” is devoted to the plant motives in architecture, in decor of buildings and interiors.
	On that showcase there are also many examples of the plant symbols in different cultural traditions, such as “language of flowers” (that is rather forgot now) or laurel wreath over a triumpher’s head
	Color of clothes was never indifferent for the people, so the plants served as the most important source of dyestuffs for tissues for a long time. This showcase is devoted to dye plants and vegetative colors of Eurasia
	Nettle yarn dyed by natural vegetative colors.
	Spikes of Triticale, a hybrid of rye (Secale) and wheat (Triticum) combining useful properties of both parental species. Creation of Triticale is a striking example of use of genetics’ achievements for selection of new crops.
	Showcase “Cultivated plants” is devoted to modern methods of selection with emphasis on N.N. Vavilov’s theory of the diversification centers of the cultivated plants. This theory was worked out more than 70 years ago but it retains its importance for modern science
	Courdiea is a red alga that is widespread be shore of Antarctica. Antarctic algae are rather diverse whereas the land vegetation is very poor: only two species of flowering plants (Colobanthus crassifolius and Deschampsia antarctica) grow on this huge continent. These barely visible plants grown in very severe environment are shown on the showcase “Vegetation of Antarctica”